28cms & a nail file!

I had my weigh in & measurement this morning at Curves, very happy with the results.

Even though this 6 weeks has included me being sick for almost 3 weeks, a semi crushed big toe from a 500kg horse landing on it, a suspected bonespur on my heel, being away in Sydney with work for a week, and missing out on at least 4 weeks of gym attendance, the results were pretty good.

28cm's gone - that's right 28cm's, I had to ask the Curves lady to measure again!

Bust -6.00 cm
Waist -8.00 cm
Abdomen -4.00 cm
Hips -2.00 cm
Thighs -4.00 cm
Arms -4.00 cm

I received a printout of my report, with the cm & kgs lost highlighted, and a lovely Curves nailfile.

Curves nailfile - I really need a better camera on my phone!

I started at Curves back in March, and Mr Mel & I kicked off with the Great Australian Diet in April, we have changed the way we eat and live, less, but better quality food, and at least 40 minutes a day of exercise.

We both feel alot healthier for it, Mr Mel has lost over 10kgs, just amazing, and alot of people are noticing, which gives him even more motivation, it's great to see how much happier he is.

I've lost just under 7kg all up, and I too feel a hell of alot better for it, we both have a fair way to go, I have more to lose still than Mr Mel, but we're both very conscious and 'in the moment' with our food & exercise now, which can only be a good thing.

Till next time,

Time To Get Fishy

In our quest to get healthy in general, and specifically for our wedding, Mr Mel and I are using Dr John Tickell's book 'The Great Australian Diet' as a guide.

In the book Dr John recommends we should all take a leaf out of the Japanese culture and eat more fish. For Mr Mel that's no worries, he is a keen fisherman and loves fish, he'd eat it every night if he could. Whereas I'm a bit more of a problem child!

I do like fish, well some fish!  I grew up in a coastal town on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, crayfish weren't a delicacy, they were something our dad & uncles caught every couple of weeks, we caught yabbies in the dam, and our uncle would bring home a gummy shark every few months.  All of those I love, and as you can probably tell from the list, they're quite mild tasty sea creatures.

The fishy taste is what gets me, I know it will sound childish, but to me some fish smell like Kittie Cat!  Tins of Tuna make me gag. (see childish!).

Over the years I've expanded my repertoire so to speak, I'll now eat:

• Shark - preferably gummy, my fave fish to eat
• Barramundi
• Prawns
• Yabbies
• Crayfish/Lobster
• Swordfish

The problem now is Dr John recommends steering away from the predator fish ie shark, barra, as they can carry more toxins.

On Sunday while we were in Sydney for a family do we went to a fish market and bought prawns, barra, swordfish and salmon. (I'm determined to find a way to like salmon, it's so pretty!)

Last night we had our first fishy dish, a mild one to start with.

Kylie Kwong's Simple Fish Soup

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Bok choy
• 6 cups Chinese fish stock (we used 3 cups fish, 3 cups vegie to not fish me out!)
• 1 tablespoon Ginger julienne
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 400 g firm white-fleshed Fish Fillets cut on the diagonal into 1cm slices
• 75 g fresh oyster mushrooms stems discarded and caps halved
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 1½ cups fresh bean sprouts
• ¼ cup coriander sprig
• 2 tablespoons finley sliced spring onions scallions

Method

1. Remove core from bok choy, cut crossways into 4, then wash thoroughly and drain.
2. Bring stock to the boil in a large heavy-based pot.
3. Add ginger, soy sauce and sugar and stir to combine.
4. Reduce heat, add fish and simmer gently for 1 minute.
5. Add mushrooms and simmer for 30 seconds.
6. Toss in bok choy and simmer for a further minute or until fish is just cooked through.
7. Stir in sesame oil and remove pot from stove.
8. Serve in bowls garnished with bean sprouts, coriander and spring onions.

Am pleased to report it was delicious, we added some noodles, and next time will add some chilli flakes for a bit of kick, but as my first fish dish of our new eating plan/lifestyle, it was a winner!
Would also be nice with poached chicken, but I won't tell Mr Mel that!

Thanks Kylie! (photo source)

I'll try to remember to take photos of our next fishy recipe attempts!

Till next time,

Great Australian Diet - Week 2

We're onto week 2 of our 91 day 'Great Australian Diet', and the good news is we're losing weight, the bad news is the soup we have to eat each cleansing day (weekly) is morphing into mouthfuls of razorblades.

First the good news:

Week 2
Mr Mel -4.2kg
Mel -3.1kg

Now the bad news, the kind of yummy soup we made for our first 2 cleansing days in week 1 (post here) has become almost unpalatable to us, yes we're being a bit woosy, but yesterday we both had it from lunch, I received a email from Mr Mel saying he couldn't face it for dinner, I was in the middle of my lunch and was thinking the same.

So for dinner, we froze the soup, and had fruit platter and shared a banana smoothie, not the letter of the GAD law, but pretty close.

It's working!

We're going to keep up with the weekly cleansing day, but just can't stomach the soup, we'll use the frozen leftovers for non cleansing meals, when we can add some meat/flavour to it!

All in all a good week, Mr Mel is walking for about an hour a day (including 1/2 hour on the treadmill while playing golf on the Wii!), I'm at Curves 6 mornings a week, loving it, and loving the company of the Curvey ladies :)

Till next time,

Great Australian Diet - Week 1

Mr Mel and I have been on the 'Great Australian Diet' for a week now, and happy to report we both have lost weight:

Week 1
Mr Mel -2.2kg
Me -1.8kg

The fist week happened to coincide with me having to travel to Victoria for my cousins engagement party, and Mr Mel heading for a boys day at the Golden Slipper in Sydney, both had a high probability of being blowouts diet wise.

However happy to say we were pretty good, Mr Mel more so than I (oops).  I only get together with my parents, sister & Aunt a few times a year, and my cousins a few times every 5 years or so, so it was always going to be celebratory, which in our family means eating & drinking!

Have to admit I did enjoy the nibbles of cheese & biccies very much, and the slice of pre-party pizza, ok slice & a half!  But I did restrain myself, moreso than usual!

Mr Mel also had a not too bad weekend, Chinese for dinner was his only blowout, along with a couple of beers at the races.

So all in all, what could've been a weekend to set our diets back to where we'd started, turned out to be not too bad dietwise, and great weekends overall.

Lifestyle's a better description but diet will do!

Today we're back into it, fruit for breakfast, fruit & salad sandwich for lunch, tonight we're cooking an Asian Noodle Soup. We poached 4 chicken breasts last week to use on sandwiches, and have 2 left, so they're going in the soup.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken stock
• ¼ Chinese cabbage finely sliced
• 1 small Red chilli finely sliced optional
• 2 tablespoons Coriander chopped
• 1 bunch Bok choy shredded
• 1 tablespoon reduced-salt Soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Fish sauce
• 125 g Hokkien egg noodles cooked
• 1 cup skinless Chicken cooked and shredded
• 1 cup Bean Sprouts
• 1 spring onion sliced

Method:

- Combine stock and cabbage in a large pot and bring to the boil.

- Simmer over gentle heat for 5 minutes or until tender.
- Add chilli, coriander, bok choy, ginger and sauces.
- Divide hot noodles and chicken between 4 deep serving bowls.
- Ladle soup mixture over noodles, add bean sprouts and garnish with spring onion.

Hopefully I'll remember to take a pic of the end result before we devour it!

So after a week we've lost a couple of kgs, but the main thing is the mindset, we're both enjoying exercising more (me @ Curves, Mr Mel walking twice daily), and we've got our heads in that all important 'we can do it' space that can be a struggle to get to and maintain.

Our looming deadline is of course helping with our motivation, but the overall feeling of not being so lethargic and heavy feeling, even after a week of moving more and eating better & less, is great motivation.

Till next time,

Can We Do It Update - Mar 2011

31st March, huh?  How is it 31 March already?  New Years seems like a couple of weeks ago!

So now that a quarter of 2011 has gone, a time to assess where we're at with our goals perhaps.

Wedding - Everything is getting on track for our Surprise Wedding in July.  Since last update we picked up our engagement ring (yay), booked a venue, celebrant, caterer, lady to help with decorations.  Even my DIY invitations debacle has been fixed with the help of a friend of Mr Mels, who kindly offered to print what I'd designed, for free! There's still a heap to do but getting there.  

Mortgage - We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

Update - We're on month 21 of our mortgage, and we're on track, we've got 59.24% equity in our home. We may reduce our repayments as the bills start coming in for July!

Other debt - Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed. Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015.

Update - Compared to when we started back in July 2009, we're sitting at approx 64% non mortgage debt gone, which is great. We have paid off the VISA, and are still happy with having our money in the offset against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, however are always reviewing. Looking like we'll have it paid off well before aim of mid 2015.

Weight - As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). 

Update - I joined Curves a few weeks ago, and Mr Mel and I started on the 'Great Australian Diet', this week. So far I'm down just on 3kg, Mr Mel 2kg.  It's happening, yay!

Business - In Feb 2010 Mr Mel gave up his job in Sydney to have a go at turning his hobby into a business. We also launched a new blog/site Hunter Valley Grapevine, which we're hoping we can slowly grow.

Update - We have the Hunter Valley Grapevine blog/site up and running, need to dedicate a bit of time to it, to get more posts/info going, but at least it's operating!  And we're getting a few visitors yay.  Will ramp that up significantly after July, happy to potter along till then.

Till next time,

C'mon Dr John!

In our overall quest to get healthier, and our immediate aim to lose weight for our wedding, Mr Mel and I have decided to do 'The Great Australian Diet' by the curly haired sometimes out there doc, Dr John Tickell.  You may have seen Dr John torturing the delish Karl on the Today Show?

I have joined Curves and have lost about 2kgs in the 3 weeks I've been going, that's without being strict on diet, Mr Mel has started to walk twice daily.

The diet is quite strict in parts, but it's a 91 day plan, and given it's around 115 days till our party, it's not too big a sacrifice, hopefully!

Last night we made a batch of the Minestrone Soup, haven't tasted it yet, but it smelt ok, the ingredients were:

• One large clove garlic
• Two medium potatoes
• Two large carrots
• Two pumpkin wedges
• Two zucchini
• One stick celery
• One parsnip
• One brown onion
• One large leek
• Five to six cups beef stock
• Two large diced tomatoes
• Two bay leaves
• One tablespoon canola spread
• black pepper
• One can red kidney beans (strained)
• 250 grams frozen baby peas

We're both having it for lunch and dinner tonight, so hopefully it's tasty.  We're also hoping Dr John can be our guiding light!  We've got the motivating goal, just need a bit of a kickstart to get going!

Till next time,

Why it so hard to say YES?

For as long as I can remember I've never been one to either ask for, or accept offers of help.  I'm sure Freud would have a field day explaining the myriad of reasons why, but at the moment I'm not sure what the answer is.

Mr Freud - what do u reckon?

I moved out of home at 19, moved 300km+ away to Melbourne, and rented a house on my own, it was tough, I was paying off a car loan, paying rent, and was a Trainee, where I worked 3 days and went to school 2 days, needless to say my pay packet was miserly.

Even though I had virtually no 'spare' money and would often have cereal or toast 3 meals a day for days on end, I could never bring myself to say 'yes please' when my parents would offer to deposit extra funds in my bank account, my answer was always 'no I'm fine don't worry about it'.  I would then lay awake in bed calculating how much it would cost me to get to work until the next pay day.

At work I would, and still do, stay back ridiculously late after work to get through my workload, when bosses or colleagues would ask if I needed a hand I'd fob them off saying I was fine.

When I was at school, I would be walking home in the pouring rain, friends parents would pull up and ask if I wanted a ride, I'd refuse with a smile.

I moved house about 17 times in 15 years in Melbourne, only twice in those 17 moves did I have anyone help me, once because I was moving out of a house i shared with friends and I helped them move, and the other because my Mum insisted.  The other 15 times I slaved away, staying up till all hours packing, doing hundreds of trips in my car to move whatever would fit, then co-ordinating with the removalists for the bigger items.

Now in my late 30's I seem to have alot of balls in the air, full-time job 5 days a week, managing house & personal finances for Mr Mel & I, managing finances for Mr Mel's business, setting up new business for Mr Mel & I, trying to lose weight and get fit at the gym, and now getting our wedding together.

On the weekend, Mr Mel suggested we hand over the wine sourcing to his Dad (wine buff and wants to help), and my immediate answer was 'no it's fine I'll sort it', meanwhile in my head my brain was going 'great yes please', but that's where it stayed.

So last night I was up till 2am trying to design & make the invitations for our wedding, I was up at 5.45am to go to the gym, and then to work at 8am, will be home at 6pm tonight, and no doubt tonight, as has happened every night for the past 2 weeks I'll be up till after midnight getting through my To Do list.

This isn't a whinge or a woe is me post, nor should it be read as a negative about Mr Mel, he does more than his fair share around here, and continues to offer help with my load, which as you would expect I refuse!! I'm not looking for a pat on the back, just curious.

Is it a female thing, not wanting to admit we need help, or not wanting to be seen to be weak?

Is it a control thing, not wanting to relinquish control in case not done right?

I'm not sure, but I hope one day I'll learn the answer and say 'yes please/thanks that would be great', alot more often!

Till next time,

Curves - it didn't kill me!

Very happy to report I had my first Curves session this morning and it didn't kill me, yay!

I arrived at 6.30am, met with one of the trainers and went through all the paperwork, weigh in (eek), measurements (eek again), body fat measurement (holy hell eeeeek!), she was lovely and reassured me I wasn't the worst she's seen, yay!

From all the measurements the good news is I'm taller than I thought 169cm, woohoo!

After the paperwork I did a circuit with her, the concept of a 30 minute workout rotating through stations doesn't sound that intense, but some of the stations are quite full on.

I was feeling my quads especially after the different leg push/pull machines.

My heartrate got to the 'target range' of 22-26 during the circuit, so I was burning cals, yay!

We get measured and weighed once a month, so hopefully by 4 April there will have been some movement in the downwards direction on both cm & kg fronts!

My plan is to attend at least 3 times a week, hopefully more, we shall see. They also offer Zumba, so if I'm game I MIGHT! give it a try.

So to sum up my 1st visit to Curves, I enjoyed it and was feeling it by the time I'd done two circuits. Not sure it will be a long term thing as I think it might get a bit boring, but happy to stick with it leading into the wedding! Then hopefully I will be alot fitter and confident to try the 'mainstream' gym.

Till next time,

Friday On My Mind - 4

Another Friday rolls round yay, and another photo for the lovely Rhonda from the Down To Earth blog Friday Photo Feature - 'On My Mind....'

So what is on my mind this lovely mild Friday?.............................

Seeings as Mr Mel and I are wanting to get married later this year (we got engaged on Valentines Day a few weeks ago, yay), I've bitten the bullet and joined Curves.

I need to get healthy and lose weight as a long term goal, but hopefully Curves can help me meet the short term goal of not looking dreadful in a wedding dress!

The ladies at the local Curves seem lovely, altho the lady teaching the Boot Camp class when I was there seemed a bit scary!

So this weekend I'm buying new runners, new gym clothes, and I start on Monday, look out!

Till next time,

Doc Update

Happy to report that I am indeed a woos!

The Doc was lovely and happy that I was well informed, and realistic about things, given my age, etc.

He was happy that I'd started on the weight loss slog and gave me a pathology request for a raft of tests.

So I shall be heading to the vampire next week, to get blood drawn, and find out what blood type I am!

Till next time,

Lost Some Of My Courage!

Further to an earlier post http://canwedoityepwecan.blogspot.com/2011/01/doctor-here-i-come.html

I'm feeling quite ill about my appointment this afternoon, I think I'm scared about getting bad news, up until the last 18 months or so I'd never really thought about my ability to fall pregnant. And since organising the appointment, I've done nothing but think about it.

I've had dreams of being pregnant, nightmares about not being able to get pregnant, and have felt sick all day today.  I know (well more hope than know) it's better to know than not, so here's hoping the Doc doesn't have bad news for me.

Yes I'm a chicken, I know! Shall report back tomorrow!!!!!

Good ol Dr Hibbert, always good for a lollipop for wooses! :)

Till next time,

Doctor here I come!

Ok so the story so far, I turned 37 a few months ago, Mr Mel and I have had all the talks that can be had, the end result, is we want to get married and start a family this year (gods willing).

SO, I just made an appointment to see my Doctor, to get the whole kit & caboodle so to speak checked.

I know the first item on the agenda will be weightloss, and I'm getting there, but I think the Doc will give me a good enough scare that I'll drop those kgs quicker than ever! I'm going to ask for the blood test that can tell you if you're cycling ok, other than that I'm open to anything that needs to happen!

Given my age, the stats are starting to scare the life out of me.

• Fertility - gradually decreases from 30 on, at 35 - 39 it's a 52% chance!
• Infertility - gradually increases from 30 on, at 35 - 39 it's a 15% chance!
• At 45 you're half as fertile as you were at 25, and at 40 you're half as fertile as you were at 35 - now that's a kick up the backside!
• Complications - Chance of complications goes from 10.43% at 20-29 to 19.29% at 35-39 years
• At 35 years + 1 in 440 pregnancies result in the baby dying in utero at the end of the pregnancy, compared to 1 in 1000 for under 35 years
• Down Syndrome - At 40 the risk is 1 in 60 for a baby with down syndrome, at 25 its 1 in 1,500!

That's enough stats to scare me, and probably you for now, but wish me luck, I've only been to this Doc once, and never seen a Doc anywhere re trying to get pregnant!

I'm not taking Mr Mel with me for this first appointment, too much info would blow his mind and distract him from the end goal, so I'll see how it goes, then fill him and he can come to the next appointment.  Don't you just love guys!!  :)

Till next time,

stats from www.babycenter.com.au

The Day A Cow Gave Me The Finger & A Massive Lightbulb Moment

For anyone who googled ‘cow’ and ‘finger’, please note this is not a porn story, so move along right now thanks.

Ok so for anyone else, today I had a massive lightbulb moment courtesy of a steer (male cow), well a few steers, while they were ‘flicking me the bird’, ‘giving me the finger’, etc.

At work we have a small herd of 8 Charolais cattle, today it was time to move them from one of the horse paddocks they’d been cleaning out, back to the bush/dam block.

3 of us were up for the job, the new girl was hiding behind the gatepost to the holding yard, ready to shut the gate when the herd ran into the holding yard, the boss was on the quad bike moving them up and I was on a side, flanking them in.

We got them close to the yard and they bolted my way, so I run, well shall I say lumber off, and try to head them off before they get to open paddock and go bolting down the other end.

So while I was running in front of the cattle, heaving and panting, I thought ‘well Mel doesn’t this show you just how unfit you are’, then I turned round and the cattle all stopped, 7 of them turned back towards the yard, but 1 stood there staring at me, I yelled at him, waved me hands, and he just stood there, I thought ‘you cheeky sod’.

About 10 seconds later he took 3 steps towards me, I took 3 towards him, and we were having a face off. Steer v Me – now for anyone who knows cattle, they’re meant to turn away from you and be scared of you, not this cheeky bugger, he was just staring at me, like a cheeky teenager flipping you the bird, daring you to do something.

So I’m standing there panting & wheezing, red faced, staring at this steer, I ran at him, and he stood his ground till the last second, then turned on a dime, with a look over his shoulder at me that was almost a derogatory smirk, and went straight into the yard with his mates.

I walked into the yard, and he stops munching on the hay we put out to entice them, and just stares at me, now I know I’m reading to much into it, but I just now that steer, was saying ‘Mel go have a look at yourself, I’m just a stupid steer and I can see you’re not in good shape’.

So I went to the bathroom, trying to catch my breath, and saw my red face, messed up hair, and thought yes Mr Charolais, I take your point.

The moral or point to the story, 2011 is my year to get healthy and fitter, which in my case means losing about 30kgs, so wish me luck everyone, and Mr Charolais, or shall we say Nemesis, we shall meet again, and thanks for the inspiration!

Till next time,

Can We Do It Update - final of 2010

Ok so I've gotten a tad sidetracked off my 'Can We Do It' Goals & Updates, but the fact they're still out there in blogland, gives me the push I need to get back to it.

So 2011 will be the year of converting goals into achievements, I'll be back in early 2011 to set it out properly, but until then, my last Can We Do It Update for 2010:

Mortgage - We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

Update - We're on month 19 of our mortgage, and we're going quite well, we've got 56.33% equity . 

Other debt - Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed. Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015.

Update - Compared to when we started back in July 2009, we're sitting at approx 48.65% non mortgage debt gone, which is good, we've got the bulk of our money against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, so we're happy with that situ.

Weight - As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). 

Update - Let's just say I totally lost my mojo, will review in 2011!

Business - In Feb 2010 Mr Mel gave up his job in Sydney to have a go at turning his hobby into a business. 

Update - Mr Mel's business is growing steadily, he's working hard at it and the results are coming in, he's probably at about 75% of his Sydney wage so far, yay!  Combined with my bloodstock investments/business, we're chugging along ok.  Looking at another part to the business in early 2011, but will update later on that.

I promise I'll be back in 2011 to redo the goals :)

Till next time,

First time in 15 years!

I first posted this on the Simple Savings forum, but thought I should put it on my blog to so here goes!

Yes as sad as it might seem, Saturday night is the first time I have worn a dress in over 15 years!

It was an engagement party, with a 'casino' dress code, so I thought right dress it is.

2 weeks ago I went dress shopping, tried on 4, all hideous (I am in the plus size range!).

Went home very depressed, and resigned to wearing my 'usual uniform', of black pants, fancy black top.

Then on Sat am, 5 hours before the party, Mr Mel and I arrived in Sydney went to Castle Hill to get him a new shirt for the party. Found his shirt in the first 10 mins at Myer, very happy.

Wandered around, with Mr Mel trying to encourage me to look for another dress. I resisted, then we're outside of David Jones and I say 'stuff it I'm going in, I'll probably be back in 5 mins'.

So off I go, and wandering around the plus size section with a load of women at least 10-15 years older than me (so depressing if I'm being honest). And I spy a dress that isn't horrible and flowery.

I try it on and hello it actually doesn't look woeful, except for being sleeveless which i just don't do. So I wander out, with dress over my arm, and there's a nice bolero jacket type thing on a different dress. I try it on and it fits and actually looks ok.

Only issue is I wasn't in shopping clothes, so I only had flat shoes, ordinary bra, and no spanx type thingos on, so I'm not 100% confident.

I call Mr Mel and get him to come see. He looks at it on the hanger and says 'if you like it chickadee get it', I blah on about but I don't do dresses, I'm too yukk for it. What if I get it home and hate it.

He says if you get it home, with all your gear and hate it, we'll bring it back tomorrow before we head home and get a credit/exchange, no big deal. You've got your backup plan with pants & top.

So I buy the dress (sleeveless, v neck, black, lace from bottom of vneck, then a black ribbon under bust, and lace over flesh coloured under material, to just below knees. And a bolero type thing, black with short sleeves and flounces. $150 for the lot, not too bad.

So I get home, get all sucked in by the spanks, and proper bra, heels on, and it doesn't look too bad. I show Mr Mel & Sister In Law and they love it, but can tell I'm not comfortable/confident, so say try the pants/top on. I do and they say I look alot more confident, but both look nice.

So I thought bugger it, I'm wearing the dress.

We head out, and I'm very self conscious for the first 1/2 hour at the party, thinking everyones looking at my not so slim calves and thinking what's she doing in a dress.

Then 3 girls I've never met complimented me on my dress, all within 20 mins, the last 2 were in the ladies when I visited. And shazaam I feel ok.

I come back from the ladies and Mr Mel says 'what happened you look so much happier', and I told him what the girls had said.

He replied 'see chickadee, I told you that you looked gorgeous but you'll never believe anyone because you think they don't want to upset you, but a stranger saying it you have to believe it, you look gorgeous princess'.

While I think gorgeous is a huge stretch, I have to say I really really enjoyed my first dress in 15+ years. :)

So if any bigger than 'normal' girls are out there, don't lose hope, just keep looking for a dress that suits, it can happen!

The dress I wore

Till next time,


PS - thanks to all the lovely ladies on SS for their wonderful comments, it gave me the confidence to post about it here :)

Can We Do It - Update 5

Another month down and it's mid September, unbelievable, this year is flying.  This is update 5 on my 'Can We Do It Goals', some movement forward, and a fair bit of treading water unfortunately, but it is what it is!

Mortgage

We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

We're on month 14 of our mortgage, and we're going quite well, we've got approx 54% equity . 

According to my obsessive excel calculations, if we continue on the same path we'll have the mortgage paid off by mid 2016, even allowing for a couple of years at minimum payments (fingers crossed that becomes reality soon!! read below)

Other debt

Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed.

We're sitting at approx 25% non mortgage debt gone, which is good, we've got the bulk of our money against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, so we're happy with that situ.

Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015, so we're on track there too.

Weight

As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). I am easily distracted from weightloss, so hoping this blog can keep me on the straight & narrow!! We've been talking wedding options over the past few months (even though Mr Mel hasn't proposed yet!!!! don't get me started!), so have to keep on keeping on!!

A new goal is Xmas, Mr Mel & I are venturing to my old hometown for the first time since I 

moved to Melbourne (1992) and I want to move some pudge before heading home.  So the timeframe is set!!

My goal is:

Lose 15kg by 20th December, that gives me 18 weeks, that SHOULD be do-able, the only thing stopping me, is me!!  C'mon me!

Since this new goal was set on 16 Aug, I've lost the miserly amount of 1.4kg, which is pathetic, but the good part is I was pathetic, little to no extra exercise, and too much naughty food, so at least I still lost while being very naughty.

So on that goal of 15kg, I'm 9% there, it's better than 0%, so that's a start!

The good news is we fixed the treadmill, so this week I've been on the treadmill every morning, after walking the pug.  Results should follow!

Business

Mr Mel's work (majority of our business) continues to grow, he gets frustrated that he's not 'bringing home all the bacon he should' but we'll get there, as long as he's happy in what he's doing that's the main thing, the rest will follow

Our bloodstock side of the business (my part) had it's first profit a few weeks back, so it was nice to make a deposit from the horses, instead of constant outgoings.

I think that's about it for the month.....

Till next time,

Can We Do It - Update 3

The third of my monthly updates on our 'Can We Do It' goals/challenges:

Mortgage

We bought our home in July 2009, settlement was 13 July 2009, so we're just passed our 1st year anniversary :)  We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

Start of mortgage - 13 July 2009

As at today (23 July 2010) - mortgage reduced by $110,103
% of home owned - 52.38%

We locked away our redraw so we can't redraw it, and had our minimum recalculated, so we'll be paying more off the principal each week. If we can continue on the track we're on with the mortgage, even allowing for a year or 2 of 1/2 wage for me (hopefully with kiddies), we should meet or beat our 7 year deadline.  

Other debt

Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed.

Start of car loan - 10 May 2010

As at today (23 Jule 2010) - reduced by $580.62
% of car owned - 3.52%

Start of VISA - 1 Dec 2009

As at today (23 July 2010) - reduced by $3,961
% of VISA paid - 80.50%

Total non mortgage debt (May 2010) - $15,633
As at today (23 July 2010) - reduced by $4,541.62
% of debt paid - 29.05%

Weight

My weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). I am easily distracted from weightloss, so hoping this blog can keep me on the straight & narrow!! C'mon me, you can do it!!  We've been talking wedding options over the past few weeks (even though Mr Mel hasn't proposed yet!!!! don't get me started!), so have to keep on keeping on!!

Weight loss as at 1st March 2010 - 0kg 

Weight as at 23 July 2010 - 8.6kg 
% of goal weight loss achieved - 15%

Business

At end of financial year, our business is actually going better than expected, equates to about .6 of Mr Mel's previous wage, which we're happy with after our first year, when Mr Mel only started working on it full time from mid Feb this year. We have some plans and ideas, so looking forward to implementing and/or researching further in the 2010/11 FY.

Mr Mel has picked up a bit of extra work, he's very happy, and quite busy, the .6 of previous wage is creeping up :)

Till next time,