Tuesday

After having the majority of the packing done the night before we check smoothly out of the hotel. Margi, Jasons sister lives in the Gold coast so we had a cup of tea with her before we headed out to Tree Top Challenge. The last time I did the ropes course was while I was getting ready for my wedding so I weighed about 88 kilos and was doing personal training. The only reason why I felt remotely like I could do it today was because of the mountain biking I have been doing lately.

I needed to do it as I didn't want to leave Jason alone with two kids. Its much safer now as they have a magnetic click-it system where it is impossible to have two clips not clicked on while you are up on the trees, you can't physically unclick one if the other is already off. Its awesome as they kids would have unclicked themselves completely a few times if not for this safeguard. That said they can be a bit fiddly at times.

Doing the ropes course at 105 kilos really sucks. I felt so heavy in my harness that it hurt quite a bit. This is the weight where things start to get nasty. I hear my knees complain, there isn't a lot of room left in dreamworld harnesses and I don't put many pictures of myself on facebook. Luckily for me the house items and prepreparing food seems to be really helpful with combating the fat monster.

Geordie and I played games and ate food from the esky while we waited for Jules and Jason to finish the red and black courses. I had a supermarket salad and some jatz. Much better than the options the cafe was offering :)

So as much as the weight on the scale is going to be up tomorrow after the holiday, it won't be as bad as it would have been!

Monday

Today we had a leisurely morning. No one felt like doing anything particularly so Geordie and I played board games.

Then we watched season3 of ninja go and we had spaghetti I had brought frozen from home.  It's nice not having to rush everywhere on holiday.

We spend a good hour at the beach and then grabbed some Thai food on the way back to the hotel.

On day three of the holiday my food mojo has well and truely gone. I had some pearl tea,  chips and chocolate and ended up feeling ill. Jason headed out for a massage while the three of us chilled at a hotel. Everyone is feeling like its okay that our little holiday is ending.

Sunday

Today I forgot to turn the week day alarms off so we work up early.

We had a lesuirely morning and I read a book. We went for an explore in our hotel. The weather was windy and more like winter than summer so we had a swim in the indoor pool. I practised doing handstands in the water and swum a few laps sideways as the Jules insisted doing them with me and I felt that 25m was a bit much for the little bloke.

We had a nice lunch of beans, carrots, broccoli, potato and oven fish. Then I had a little nap, it is a holiday after all. I played heaps of games with Geordie. We went to the beach, but it was cold and it started to rain a little so we were only there for about 30mins.

We went to timezone and had a good time. I found a govindas there so I enjoyed that while the family had some food from breadtop.

Gold Coast Holiday

The kids were really good at circus. They have been doing it a year now and the teacher feels like they can move up to the next class. Unfortunately the intermediate class is divided into different age classes, which are 90 mins each. The good news is that the classes are back to back. So next term the circa commitment is from 11:30 until 2:30. Pillows, UNO cards, dvd players and ipads are going to be my best friends lol.

We set off straight from Circa which is in the valley to our holiday. We had Subway for lunch and swung by Dreamworld on the way. The weather was perfect and the lines were non existent. In a few hours we had been on 5 rides and saw two 3d mini movies.

We headed of to the hotel and checked in. It felt luxurious and was in the centre of surfers paradise in the gold coast. I had brought a small esky of food with us. It is a great way to save some money.

We unpacked the good and I prepped afternoon tea of Jatz, cucumber, avocado, cheese and tomato. I cut up strawberries and pears.  We set out for some milk, an explore and to find some dinner. We came across teppanyaki and it was more about the experience than the food which was very good.

We ate very well this day and my food mojo was still very high. I wish I had of brought more precooked dinners so there was less convenience foods. This would have kept my food mojo up for longer.

Jason slept on the couch to stop the kids just going on the balcony as we were 28 stories up.

Two rides today!

As we have James to babysit, today I got up at 6 am to go for a bike ride with Jason. As discussed we left a note for Jules, saying where we were and when we would get back, and our phone numbers. He freaked out though and rang me and I said to meet us at the park. We like having Jules along, but it was nice to have some just the two of us time first. I think he mostly woke up because I warned him I would be going, usually he sleeps in until 7:45.

Then I went off to help my friend form a club and I designed them a logo. It was nice to work for the day but the meal planning and house cleaning took a hit. I had enough prepared food to get through but I am really aware that that is central to my weight loss so I don't want to let anything get in the way of that again. I let them know that I was happy to help but not until after the school holidays.

I took Geordie to the doctor to get a referral to a Friends workshop which goes for an hour and works on social skills. I also got a care plan so that he can see a psychologist as his social skills ie reluctance to say hi, being stubborn in class etc are lacking and he can use some help there.

Jules went whizzing down the hill onto the road today without looking so I am trying to help him learn to stick to the left and stop at intersections better. Its a hard thing to teach, thank god we live in a quiet area.

He went out for two rides today. On the second one he didn't hear the phone and it was getting dark and he wasn't home so I had to go out looking for him on the bike. I was reluctant to do this as I had already rode that day. He got chores as he didn't ring me to let me know that he was going to a different part of he bike track, answer the phone or make it back by dark.

Eating wise has again been good. I had a nice porridge, chai latte at the meeting. A large quinoa salad with pear, sultanas, beans, spinach, cabbage, carrot with a satay dressing.

I am going on holiday tomorrow. And I have packed food to take with us.

Cooking ahead of time

Now that the house is not as overwhelming I have been starting to cook ahead of time. The idea is that I have energy before lunch but not so much after I have got the kids and are tending to them.

I have been eating the stew I cooked a few days ago with some mashed potato on the side. It is really lean and yummy and ready to go. I have fruit cut up for people to snack on ready for afternoon tea and the veggies are cut up ready for dinner.

I have a busy couple of days as we are about to head off to the gold coast for a four days. I have started to prepare some of the food in advance because otherwise we will spend too much money and time eating too many calories.

Yesterday I cooked spaghetti and froze off half the mince. I put a lot of cut up veges in the spaghetti mince so it is actually a lean meal. So one of the three nights I have dinner already made. I cooked some carrot muffins with sultanas and I put half and half wholemeal flour to white flour. So its healthier and a little less morish.

A few days ago I bought myself a new notebook for my recording my daily food. I have it sitting on the kitchen bench below the scales. Having it visible has improved my recording. I have lost two kilos in the last four days of recording and I haven't been hungry. I have two more days of being at home and then we will be on holiday and of course I will gain it all back lol. But if I hadn't started clearing the house clutter I never would have got to these harder tasks.

Yesterday I tackled something I have been wanting to do for months, I repaired the kids hammock. It had a strap lattice which had deteriorated in the sun. It was a big square frame nothing to sit on in the middle. I got a 30 meter long rope and weaved a new seat around the frame. It took about an hour, but that is one thing off my medium term to do list.

Never before have I realised how much I need to do the small stuff before I can do the bigger stuff. And losing weight is the biggest stuff!

Ups and Downs

There have been a few really nice plusses from my little items adventure. I love not having to clean up for guests. The house is far from perfect, but I have had a few guests now where I haven't had to do a little panic clean just because they are coming over :)

Jason has lost 6 kilos! He is looking sexy! A lot of that motivation came from training for the epic, but still I know that clearing the house clutter is making an impact. He woudl never admit that though lol!

When I came back from camping I was nicely surprised at how neat the house was and I didn't have to go to any special effort to clean the house up before we left. That is one of the biggest stresses of camping. Firstly buying the food, then prepping it, packing everything and then cleaning up, usually to a high standard as we have neighbours coming around to feed the pets. 

James is one of our best friends and has been boarding with us for the last 6 months. He pays $170 a week board and that goes a long way to smoothing out our finances. Its been great having a build in baby and pet sitter!

He keeps a low profile, he is either sleeping, working, on a computer or out at the hackerspace. His cruisey nature makes him easy to live with. Here we have Jason at his desk and James on his. James has a very small footprint as a lot of his stuff is in storage. His stuff is at his desk or in his room. He is a great friend and boarder.

Yesterday I saw a doctor about applying to see a nutritionist. I might not get approved as I am not diabetic. It motivated me. I had a great day eating wise yesterday. I precut up fruits and made a healthy dinner and tracked everything. I gave Geordie a biking lesson, and I felt great!.

Today I was productive as well. I went for a 6km bike ride in 40 mins and averaged 9km per hour. I walked much less of the track than just 3 weeks ago and was less stuffed. I put a stew on the slow cooker and then ran out of time to cut up the fruit. It was finally time to return the hire car and get my car back. 

After spending 3k on hire car fees and excess I was glad to have my baby back. James drove along with me to help return the hire car. After I dropped him back home I had only 20 mins before I had to go to get Jules from school. Here was the problem. The stew was still cooking, I had no instant food and I felt very hungry!

Unfortunately for me I saw two packets on instant noodles and I decided to make them. In hindsight I had much better options, I could have had some baked beans on toast in less time! This is the danger of having junk food visible in the house. After I had that lousy lunch I felt defeated and low.

I got the kids their haircuts after school and the were so good I got them some treats. The kids wanted some rainbow paddle pops. I could have left it there, but instead I also saw that an apple pie was on sale. Guess what I ate half of today... And I know it was incredibly calorie laden as I haven't had much of an appetite afterwards...

Gah, got to take the good with the bad. I have been feeling a little borderline depressed over the last two months. I don't know why. Maybe its because I have gotten so fat that I am starting to feel like my appearance is limiting me. Or maybe its because I am detoxing the house which is making me deal with issues rather than hiding in a shopping centre. Or maybe I am getting  a little bored as the kids need me less. I am not sure but I think its a little of all the above. 

Keeping an eye on the bigger picture I feel things will get much better over the next few months.

Mini Epic!

On Friday we packed the cars and took off to Grandchester for the Epic. This is the mountain bike event that Jason, Jules and I had been training for. Some more than others <looks around and whistles innocently>. Anyway we decided to take Kai with us as he was keen to go and is a great role model for our kids.

We got there early and got a nice spot to camp in. Its never quite easy when spots aren't defined, but we were able to chat to our neighbours to decide how much space they needed and fit comfortably around that. Then I realised that I hadn't packed the gas cooker which was going to make cooking dinner hard so I took Geordie and went to a nearby hardware store to pick up a canister cooker.

While I was gone Jason took Kai and Jules around the 4.2km mountain bike track. I wasn't sure if I could make the it as I am still so heavy and fairly unfit. It was a tricky track, but I was able to ride most of it. Some of the jumps were too much and I had to walk. Some of the hills I had to walk aswell.

I was puffed and red faced when I got back and I was scared I would get a headache if I went the next day. We cooked dinner, played spotlight and the kids got together and did cartwheels and had fun. Kai finds it hard to sleep at night so we went for a few walks whenever he got nervous.

After morning snuggles we got up and packed up the tent early. This saved having to do it in the heat of the day maybe with a nasty exercise headache.

I was nervous at the start of the family fun ride. I was concerned that Jules would get in to trouble too far ahead of me. I didn't want to come last. I don't mind being last, I just didn't want everyone to be waiting for me and put anyone out.

It was a lot easier to do the course after we had practised it. There was one point where I felt tortured and of course that was the time someone would be taking photos of contestants lol. I ended up coming in  about two thirds of the pack. It was really nice to have family at the finish line. Its amazing how having strangers say well done is so encouraging.



Kai had come 5th of the race and had done really well. We went back to our camp to recover and congratulate ourselves and enjoy the finishing feeling.







Soon it was time for Jason to do his race.

Last year he did the 20k in almost 3 hours, he came 3rd last. So this year I thought I would go to the finish line at 2pm, two hours after the race started.

He was so delighted in my surprise that he wasn't too disappointed I wasn't there at the finish line.









Here he is at the start of the race :) He needed to wave so I could spot him as everyone gets a free  jersey as part of entering in the race.

While he was gone the kids entertained themselves on a slide and climbing wall. We grabbed some lunch and then headed back to our gazebo.
















We were settling into some board games when Jason bounded back with a big grin! It wasn't even 2pm and he was back already! He had slashed over an hour off his time from last year!
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 We were so happy for him :)

He rested and enjoyed his victory. We sent the kids off to the jumping castle while we packed up to go home. Karen J, Kai's Mum, cooked us a lovely dinner with vegetables at her house. It was great because we were both stuffed from all the driving, packing and racing.

We all loved it :)

A good loss

Yesterday I cleaned 755 items. That's a lot of movement. It muted my appetite, and the end of the day my thighs were actually sore.  I got limited acknowledgement from my flatmate and my husband. Which really sucks.

There is literally no one I can talk to this about but my blog. People are naturally skeptical so I am on my own. It would be so nice to get some encouragement. But by the time it comes I won't need it. I guess going this alone will make me stronger.

It sucks to be doing stuff for people and have limited gratitude.  Maybe its part of the cleansing process that I am clicking a little less with Jason these days. I just try and focus on this is my backlog, for my health and future. They have their own issues to deal with and these are mine.

Considering that most of clearing the house debt is getting through the interest I wondered what sort of pay off I would get for going above and beyond.

The current rate I was striving to pay it off was 1000 items a week. This works out to being about 405 items a day and would take me another 42 weeks, aiming for 22 Jun 2015.

Stepping it up to 550 items a day halves the time to 22 weeks, to the 20th of Feb which is just past my birthday.

What a huge difference that extra 145 items makes. Thats interest for ya.

If I ramped it up to 705, it would take 15 weeks which is the 15th of December and in time for Christmas!!

Isn't that incredible! I am not going to be a perfectionist about this. But I am definitely going to try and hit closer to 700 each day.

I am just glad to have a blog in moments like these. I feel like I am on to something big here, and when I talk to people about it they think I am nuts.

But waking up to an 800g loss, now that's a nice piece of encouragement from the universe!

So this is going well :)

For the last fortnight I have been focusing on getting through daily home maintainence plus a little exta to work through the backlog. Having a flexible, long term plan is working. Little day to day tasks are becoming more pleasant and effortlessly I am beginning to take on bigger tasks sooner.

Today I made an appointment to see the dietician. Not so much for weight loss as frankly I feel that I do know what I need to there. My problem is applying the knowledge, hence Operation: Organised Home is coming first.

I am seeing the dietician so that I can know the optimum pregnancy diet, particularly in regards to folate and iron. I am interested to hear how they would opitimally manage my obesity as well. I think its a good idea to start practicing now, particularly as we need so much extra sleep during pregnancy which means we are short on time.

Iron is a concern to me as I tend to run low, and I know needs for iron are high when pregnant. Infact a shortage of iron has likely prevented me from concieving. (Eeep, how much has not maintaining an organised home cost me?) I also want to increase the amount of fresh foods that the kids eat. Geordie excepted as that kid has more fibre than any of us, he is an absolute fruit bat!

I arranged for my father in law Robert to come and collect the pavers off my property as they have use for them and its time for them to have it if they are the ones with the long term plans.

I arranged for the kids to have haircuts this week. I like to do it just before the holidays as the kids need a haircut by the holidays and I never seem to want to drag them out of the house just for a haircut on a precious holiday day. Where as on the way home from school is a lot less trouble.

The most exciting thing is that my appetite of its own accord is naturally reducing. I have some preprepared cauliflower, potato, cabbage soup flavoured with light coconut milk, ground almonds and  kecap manis just sitting in the fridge waiting for me to get hungry. And get this... I am not hungry!!!! YAY!!

On the stove today is ham hock and four bean soup, I haven't made it before but I know its going to rock!

Jason is improving too, he has lost 4 kilos. Men. They find weight loss soo much easier don't they? He took Jules for a 17km bike ride on Saturday and then for his Fathers day treat he went for a long 36.2km ride by himself. He got up early though so we didn't lose too much time with him.

Fathers day with my Father in law was bowling and cake, and the with my Dad was dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was a fancy restaurant so it was actually a pretty lean meal.

So I am absolutely stoked that my instinct that house clutter is body clutter seems to have some merit!