Every Little Thing She Does

is Magic

So sings The Police

and its the same when motivating yourself in a goal.  And it doesnt have to be a fitness goal, or a weightloss goal.  It can be decluttering your home, or finishing a DIY project, or plans for a holiday.  Every little bit helps.

And thats my mantra (for the moment).

Every little thing I do is going to help me get to my weight loss goal.

So this week the little things have been simple.

DONT TAKE THE BUS when you can walk.
DONT TAKE THE LIFT - take the stairs

Two months ago if I had had to walk from my office in Willis Street to the top end of Lambton Quay I would have caught the bus - at a cost of $1.97 and a distance of 1.3km.
I walked it on Tuesday and it took me 11 minutes and 259 calories consumed.

Yesterday I took a half day from work and went to watch the Cricket - Black Caps vs Sri Lanka.  We lost but that was not a biggie.  Its a distance of 2.7 km from my office in Willis Street, to the Westpac Stadium on the waterfront.  Usually I would have caught a bus to the railway station - at a cost of $1.97 and then walked the last 500 metres.  Yesterday I walked it and it took me 28 min and i walked off 430 calories.

I've saved nearly $4 on travel budget - its not much but in the bigger scheme of things it has been one of those little things that help (its helped cut down my budgeted spend on travel costs for this month)

I've also pulled myself out of bed slightly earlier in the morning a couple of days this week and done walks along the beach front when its nice and cool.  

Not to mention getting out and enjoying our waterfront at lunchtime.  I have a circuit which starts from of my office building, across two busy roads then a good walk through Frank Kitts Park, along the water front to Macs Brewery, up the steps, across the over pass and down the stairs on the other side and into Civic Square then on back to work. Thats a 1.2 km walk which is, apart from being a nice midday stroll - not to heavy, not too light, its also a great way to have a break from my desk and computer and get some much needed vitamin D.

You also get to see things like

 The kids jumping off the wharf or

Where else in the world is there a piano on wheels ready for you to play if you feel like it - with a view like that.

Lastly there's the stairs.

Now we take up the 8th to 11th  floors (I'm on the 8th) of the State Insurance Building and I do know that taking the stair is really good for you rather than taking the lift.  BUT I'm not ready to climb all flights of stairs up to my floor from the bottom yet.  So to get myself ready to achieve that goal I make sure that every time I need to go up to any of our other floors I always take the stairs.  

It may only take a minute to go up one floor but thats 30 odd calories per floor every time.  So if i climb up and down those four flights of stairs at least once a day thats 100 calories each time - today I've done it twice.

So remember.  

It doesn't have to be a mammoth session at a gym.  It doesn't have to be a 10km bike ride or run. Small steps are the best way to start and every little thing you do counts towards the bigger picture.  

This weeks stats
Weight loss this week: 1kg
Total weeks since started: 3 weeks
Total weight lost since started: 3.8kg

You're the inspiration

Sitting at the hospital the other day waiting to see the Respiratory Specialist I was re-reading all the wonderful notes from my friends on Facebook about my courage and determination to do this and how I'm an inspiration to others. 

Guess what?

I'm not an inspiration but I want to introduce you to two people who are. 

Firstly my work colleague and dear friend Tanya who is more than anything the most awesome person you will ever meet.

Tanya came into my life 2 1/2 years ago when she attended the same work related audio conferences that I did.  At that time we didn't really interact apart from my work sharing with her work any potential issues arising.  A year or so later she had moved on and low and behold she was working for my company and in the same department I was.  And our friendship just blossomed from there.

Now she is one of my besties and a woman who I look up to - even if she is shorter than me.

In our team she is the Motivator, she is our Engagement Leader. In short (and I don't mean height) she is the one that helps us feel good and she does an amazing job.  Her enthusiasm just rubs off on you to the point where you feel on such a high being around her - whether its work related or personal.

She is the one who put me onto MFP and encourages me whether Im having a good day or a not so good day. If I'm feeling down or blue she knows exactly how to perk me up again.  If shes feeling not so good I reciprocate.  If we are both having amazeballs days (and yes that is a word cause we both say it is) then we High 5 each other.And it helps that she loves my jam and marmalade and I can bribe her with it lol.

She sees the best in me when I lose my sight.

She and I have a nickname at work - Peas and Carrots -  because we go so good together.  We have built that into

And we do a lot of fun things for our team mates at work.

It's a privilege to be called her friend.

The other person I want to introduce you to is an ex work colleague of mine, Chanel.  

Chanel left Chorus a year ago and took off to pastures new in Australia.    The past year for her has had its ups and downs but this woman has just shocked the world by announcing she lost over 26 kg over the past 7 months.  That is why I call her an Inspiration. If I can aspire to do half as much as what she has done weight loss wise then I will be well on the way to achieving my goal. Her Facebook posts amaze and inspire me and I quote

" So my weight loss journey started at the end of June 2014 and what an experience it's been! 

When I started I had an unhealthy mindset, believed I couldn't do it, I couldn't lose weight, I'd fail but at that time in my life I was in a very unhealthy relationship, 7 months later my whole world has changed. My mind is free of negativity, I believe in myself, I love myself for who I am, I no longer long for people to tell me I'm a good person because I can confidently say I know who I am and I'm damn proud of it.
This journey I've taken hasn't just been about losing weight, it's been about finding me and believing in myself, believing I truly can do anything!
I've found a love for the gym, I've found a love for being healthy but most importantly I've found Chanel!

 "

So you can see how awesome she is and how she affects my own determination to achieve my goal.  I couldn't ask for a better role model.

Although these two woman aren't even in the same city as me, I feel so close to them.  We don't always talk, in fact I don't think I've actually verbally talked to Chanel since she left but we keep in great contact through other social media. I'm so looking forward to seeing Chanel when she comes home for a holiday mid this year.  It will be great to see her new body in person.

What Ive learnt is that I cant do this by myself.  In fact you can't live life without it being affected by others in both good and bad ways.  But what you can do is surround yourself by positive people whose positivity will rub of on you and make your soar to what you thought were unobtainable heights

To both of you ladies.  Thank you.  It's an honour and a privilege to know you and to share in your busy lives.

Thank you for being my Inspiration. 

P.S.  I have lost 3kg in my first two weeks.  Hows that for being Inspirational.

Happy Birthday to me

On January 11th this year (2015) I turned 46 years old. I celebrated the day with family and friends. The sun was out in force, there was a little breeze here and there. The music was playing, the BBQ sizzling. It was a great day and yes we all pigged out on fantastic food and of course alcohol.

The following morning, my first day back at work after three weeks Christmas Holiday leave, I jumped on the scales and saw that I had hit 141.3 kgs (That's 311.5 pounds or 22.2 stone for those who need to understand it in non metric weights).

Now I've always been a big girl and there are physical and psychological reasons behind it (that I'll go into at another time maybe). I used to be 150+ kgs 8 years ago but I had managed to lose 28 kg after my ex husband left and our marriage broke up. (mostly through stress and not eating binges which isn't  a great way to lose weight as we all know)

I managed to keep most of the weight off by having fits and spurts of joining a gym and giving up, walking and giving up because I had found a new man and I needed to keep the weight in check for him. And within reason it worked. I fluctuated here and there but kept my weight reasonably steady over 6 years at around 120 kg.

Until my 44th birthday that is. Until I broke my foot in 2012 (on my birthday yes and no there was no alcohol involved) and spent nine months on crutches without being active and then in 2013 (again on my birthday) my relationship fell apart and within three weeks I was single again.

So between not being active for nearly a year, giving up smoking after 30+ years and then trying to learn to live life again as a single person after doing all the grieving and soul searching and self pity and lack of self esteem that goes with a relationship breakup, not to mention the copious amounts of alcohol that can be consumed during frequent bouts of misery, I could be forgiven for putting on a little weight but hells bells I've put back on over 20kg.

So what the heck do I do. I can't afford to go to a gym. I'm a shocker at bag eating habits. Coke, potato chips and burgers are my friends. Jenny Craig, weight watchers and other diet help places are out of reach financially and I'm such a picky eater I couldn't eat half the meals/meal ideas they offer anyway.  I brought myself a bike mid way through  last year and its collected dust more than mileage. Good comfy sneakers sit idly in the bottom of my wardrobe.

I'm discussing my woes to my good friend Tanya (henceforth known as Ms Peas and I'll tell ya why later) and she suggests I try using the App My Fitness Pal to help with calorie counting and exercise. So I download it, play around, test and trial it and a week later I'm hooked.

All I had to do was fill in all my personal information. Height, weight, measurements etc and end weight goal and it gave me a max calorie intake per day to be able to lead me to my goal safely.

My goal?

To get to 99 kg in 52 weeks. To lose 42 kg by my next birthday

A big ask you say?  I'm a big girl and big girls need big goals to strive to.

This is my story about how I give up on being A Beached Whale forever

So if you don't want to see the semi naked truth then please don't look any further. But I need to face the facts.

This is going to be a no holes barred diary.  It's going to get graphic both visually and verbally. I May even no actually I will resort to a swear word now and again too.

I'd love for you to join me in my journey but if you're squeamish then I'll understand if you don't.

So there you go. You see before you the semi naked truth. Underneath the cool clothes I wear to work to casually hide my bumps and rolls this is me. I look,at myself in the mirror and I cringe at what I see. I cringe that my stomach looks like a beer belly. I cringe that my underarms hang out of my bra strap.  So now you can see too. Can see what I am at the start of my journey. 

So here I go .........

Essential accessories to compliment the journey

And I'm not talking about clothes, jewels or shoes lol.

I'm talking apps and bands and wheels and oh yeah sorry shoes lol.

So number one on the list is MFP or My Fitness Pal. A food and exercise diary and much more. It's helping me to track and control what I'm eating, record and track my exercising and track my weight and measurement changes and much more. 

There is also a great support community should you wish to participate.

I'd welcome you as a friend should you start using it yourself. You can find me there as user GruvieKiwi

Check it out at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Next is Map My Walk or MMW.  The app logs your workouts. You punch in your workout type (I have the app running on my phone). Hit start workout and away you go. It logs time, distance, average speed calories burned etc. you can pause and resume when needed. Once you have finished your workout you log it as complete and share it to any social media site you like should you wish and it also can be synced up with MFP. I still haven't started utilising this as much as I can yet.  So much undiscovered country here.
http://www.mapmywalk.com/

Search me there under your Facebook contacts or Jo Moar

I have a new toy. A cheaper version of the Fitbit or Garmin
My pedometer is called a smart band
Half the price and just as good for recording steps and calculating calories burned.

Check them out at http://www.smartmobile.co.nz/

Then there are my wheels. My shiny retro bike called Daff. Daff because she is as yellow as a daffodil in Spring. Yes she has a basket and yes she has gears. I haven't fallen off yet touch wood lol

Next.  yes shoes. Ya gotta make sure you have a decent pair of sneakers for when you pound the pavement through walking or for holding onto the pedals when your puffing away.

Lastly for now a decent set of digital scales and measuring cup/s for measuring what you are eating. It may start out as monotonous this having to measure everything before it goes into your mouth but it is the heart of calorie controlling.

Right. That's enough to get me started.

Ohhhh I forgot the drink bottles. Two at least. One for work and one for home. Keep them topped up with water all day and into the night. You're gonna need them

The raw facts

I started this journey on January 12th 2015

I'm 170cm tall

I weigh 141.3 kg

My neck size is 45.27 cm

My waist size is 132 cm

My hip size is 152 cm

I am obese.