Nearly Four Months Down...

Well, as I haven't updated for ages, I have no idea what day I'm up to, and I guess it doesn't matter! I am still losing weight, albeit very slowly, but still, it's all good! I have now lost just over 10kg since I started back in February this year, and tomorrow is the first day of June. Yeah, it's taken awhile, but I don't think there has been a single week where I haven't lost at least a bit of weight. So, it's all good!

I thought it was probably time to update with what I've been doing. I've been working very hard in my IM business... no I'm not getting anywhere yet, but that's okay ;) it requires a lot of hard work and persistence for things to start paying off, and I have a plan to stick to! My goal is to be making $3000 a month by the end of the year, which IS doable if I continue to work hard and stick to my plan.

I also have just got myself a fairly good freelance writing job. Not great pay, but it's a reasonable amount, and over the next few weeks I SHOULD have a stable supply of work if all goes well. Yes, it cuts into my other working time, but things were getting VERY tough financially, and in order to pay over $1700 bills which all came due last week, I had to borrow money off my husband :( Today my car's finally getting serviced so there will be another few hundred $$$. So, yeah, I NEED the money very crucially!

So, over the next few weeks I'll be working my butt off doing this freelance work and my IM stuff. However, it WILL all be worth it eventually!

Oh, and I thought I would mention that I went on a looong walk this morning. I had to take my car in for a service, and they'll drop you off from the mechanic's into town, but not all the way to where I live, so I walked home from town which is a good few km away, and there are a few hills too! Great exercise, but it means my work for the day is BEHIND badly! I haven't been doing enough exercise lately because of my injured hand (it's getting better though, so I may be able to go riding this week). Still I hurt it on the 1st of May, so it's been almost a full month of an injured hand and thumb. Wow! I wonder when it will be better???

Day 98

Yeah, I know I'm not updating daily anymore! Well it's because I'm really working hard at the moment, building my sites, learning new stuff etc. etc. To be honest, that's probably a good thing as I'm not waffling on here all the time!

However, on the upside I'm still losing weight, and I've started to get a few websites up. Not earning yet though ;) I may also be getting a regular(??) writing gig that should pay a reasonable (but not fantastic) rate. However, if I get enough work through it, I'll be earning enough to live off and pay down my credit card debt, which is climbing at an alarmingly rapid rate!

I haven't taken any body measurements in ages, but I know jeans are fitting looser, and soon I'll be able to get into smaller ones (well I can't afford to buy any, so I'll have to wear smaller pants that I already have...most of which will fit me at somewhere below 60kg) which will be great WHEN I get into them. At the moment I'm 64.5kg, so I have a way to go before I can get into my below 60kg jeans.

However, the FANTASTIC thing is I have lost almost 10kg since the start of the year! It doesn't sound like much since I have over 20kg to lose, but it's the first time in a loooong time that I've regularly and consistently had weight loss. AND it's the first time in FOREVER that I've had regular, consistent weight loss WITHOUT diet pills. So YAY!

Now, it's back to the grind for me. I've been writing and submitting and spinning some articles. I now have to start putting together a couple more websites (domains I already own that don't have anything on them yet and haven't been built out). I decided I would do that FIRST before I set up another few domains. Although, eventually I want to start setting up one new domain each day. Lots of work involved in that, even with the method I've got for doing it! Well, I'll try and update semi regularly at least, although I MAY lose track of day number!

Day 93

Well...obviously I've missed a few days, haven't I?? I have been quite busy with my IM stuff, and VERY slack about exercise, but for a good reason... I sprained my thumb :( I did it the night of the High School Reunion on the 1st, and now 11 days later it's still bandaged and I still can't use it! This means no cycling (as I can't hold the handlebars or brake!!). I have also been VERY slack with the old eye exercises.

Quite honestly, my biggest stress right now is FINANCIAL. So, I have been putting more effort into making money than other stuff. I need to put in even EXTRA EXTRA effort, as at the end of this month I have over $1000 worth of bills due and I STILL need my car serviced. So, yeah...I need the $$ to start coming in. This means WORK WORK WORK. Anyway, the weight is still coming off slowly. For the last few weeks I've lost around 300 to 400g a week. I know this is probably a good, healthy speed, but I'd like it to be a bit zippier ;) I do want to weigh 50 by the time the year's out! At this rate it will take me over 40 weeks to get there! Still, even if I am a bit heavier come this summer, I'll still be happy because I'll have lost sooo much compared to last summer when I was 74kg!

Well, I am hoping to get back to cycling next week. I am afraid that with no exercise I'll go backwards. Can't do my BodySculpt either because I can't hold the bloody bands!! I really need to get my muscles working, because I don't want to lose muscles instead of fat.

My diet has been reasonable, but not perfect. I need to work on more raw food and less cooked. I do pretty well most days, but other times I splurge on bad stuff. I have a couple of pimples on my face too, and they're certainly not due to raw!! However, I must say I am still looking loads better than I used to. My skin is better, it's fairly unlined and stuff, and I definitely look young for someone about to turn 37. One thing I have noticed lately is a LOT of hair loss. It's quite annoying, actually. It started when I dyed my hair (maybe that's telling me something???) and hasn't really slowed down much. Next time I am definitely using henna. Now, there's no question of me NOT dying my hair cause that'll age me right there! For all that my face is young, I have grey hairs coming through, and nothing is more aging than greying hair! I am hoping that being more raw and having some wheatgrass powder will help my hair return to its natural colour. Some people say it's impossible, but I've heard enough evidence that it's definitely possible to reverse grey hair.

Anyway, it's time for me to WORK WORK WORK!!!

Day 81

Wow, in less than 20 days I'll have been keeping this blog for 100 days! Bit scary really! Not sure I've accomplished everything I intended in that time ;) Although, to be fair, the blog was supposed to be about my weight loss challenges, and as my weight is still coming off now, I don't think I've entirely not succeeded. If that makes sense!

Well, went for a long ride this morning, and I must admit to being somewhat tired. Of course, this isn't helped by the fact that I have 7,500 words to write today! I am feeling less than entirely motivated, especially as I have to go shopping today. ARGH. I wanted to go clothes shopping so I've got something to wear for tomorrow night, but don't think I have the time! I need to get a good chunk of this writing done today, so at least I can finish it tomorrow IF I have the time... which is the challenge as tomorrow will be busy too. First there's basketball, then I'll have to go clothes shopping if I don't today, and at 4:00 I am meeting old friends before we head to the school reunion (gulp). I also need time to GET READY. What this means is I need MOST done by tonight, if not all of it. Which is a lot of work! And, it's already 12pm, and I'll need to go shopping at about 2:00 to get it all done and be home by 3:30, which means 2 hours now and I won't get anything done until after swimming, and after I've picked my husband up at 7 most likely. So I'll have 2-3 hours this evening to work. All this means is I have to get on with it NOW!

I still need to edit the work I finished last  night (didn't do it then cause I like to give it a bit of space, and also because it was 11 and I was tired). So I have my work cut out for me!

Day 80

Still a LOOOT of work to do today, which is bad as I have to go to the photographer's to pick up the family portrait I bought ages ago (need to leave a bit after 2 to get there on time so I am also home on time for kids) and of course, it's basketball today so no time after school to work. I also still need a shower AND I need to get stuck into this ebook I'm writing. Need to get first one completed today and I have no idea how I'll get the other one finished by Saturday! EEP. I guess I will have to work some of Sat which is a PITA given that it's the day of my high school reunion so I'll be out of the house early, AND of course, I'll be home with the kids! At the very least I can finish it Sunday as it's still Saturday overseas hehe. But ideally the thing will be done by then.

Tomorrow I will also have limited time as I need to go shopping for some clothes to wear on Saturday night. Man, I have got to stop being distracted by IM stuff when I need to get this job finished!!

As far as my diet/exercise etc. is concerned, I went on a short but vigorous ride today (decent sized hill) so I broke a sweat etc. and got the heart pumping but didn't go far. The rain has been on and off and I find it hard to ride in the rain with glasses. Another reason to improve the old vision ;) Anyway, I need to go have a quick shower, it's currently 10:43... and I want to do a full hard 2 hours of the ebook today before I have to go driving. I need to get ebook one completed and at least 7500 words today. Of course, I still have 7500 words for the next ebook due by Saturday :( SOB. Ahh well... next time I'll get sooo busy that I'll have to turn down work ;)

Day 79

Wow, nearly 80 days! Hardly 80 days of perfection, but 80 days of at least relatively constant weight loss (if not a wee bit slow...averaging 1kg in 10 days, which if you think about it is not that bad). Well, it's now 10:41am and I have lots of work to do :( Still have this stupid ebook to finish (obviously won't get it done today, but need to have it at least 1/2 done today) and I have another annoying job which they are thinking of making weekly. I will have to time exactly how long it takes me to do it, because I get paid $25.30 for it... if it's taking me 2 hours or more then that's a very sucky hourly rate! Well, we shall see!

I am a little annoyed that suddenly when I have so many things I WANT to do, that I end up stuck with things I don't want to do but I am obliged to do. Yes, they will earn me money, but I won't get most of it until the end of next month (as it's due on the 1st of May and won't be approved until after that, and I can't bill until the 1st of the month, which means June...ho hum).

Now, I have a couple of options and I'm not sure what to do. I REALLY want to get stuck into IM. I believe it has the most potential for a long term income. Yes, I still want to write my book, but in order to really do that I need to have some $$ coming in from other sources. Now, I do know I can make money freelancing. Elance at the moment isn't proving to be very lucrative (maybe I haven't been searching enough, I don't know) but I believe I can get some good work on the WF as long as I set up a website and put some samples on it and offer my services at a relatively low price. This way, I know I can get some much needed money, and I should be paid relatively quickly for the work I do (no once a month billing or waiting for funds to be released). BUT I really don't want to do it. I want to spend my time writing for MY sites and not other people's. However, if I don't take that option, where do I get the money? It takes time to build an IM business.

That being said, there are a couple of good programs where I should theoretically start making some money relatively quickly. IF I do it right and put in the hard yards initially. I am thinking 2 - 4 weeks of hard work to see some payoff. Yes, it may mean I don't get paid much in that time frame, but the results could be worth it. Humm... so what do I do? Really, I think it's a matter of spending my time more effectively. I need to be able to block out 2 hours of solid freelance work, followed by 2 hours of solid website work and following the program. AND I need to stick to ONE thing at a time. Yes, I started doing something different a few days ago. LOL And now I want to switch to this! However, this one sort of makes more sense from a long term standpoint. The other was a bit iffy in terms of long term results.

Well, I'll go for my ride, then do my eye exercises and then I'll do my paid work for a couple of hours. I also want to spend an hour tidying the house (with the timer). I will probably end up doing the website work when the kids are home from school, so I will just have to deal with that distraction and not let it get me off course. It is vital I get the first 7500 words done of this job that I've been set, and I'm only at 2600 at the moment. GAK. So that's another almost 5000 today. I need to finish the final 7500 on Thursday and Friday as I assume Sat will be busy (day of high school reunion). Hmm, although I wanted to go shopping on Friday so I can find something to WEAR to said reunion. I also wanted to get my eyebrows waxed instead of doing it myself! But I may end up just doing it myself ;) I may see if I can go with Ro when she gets hers done next week. Or something! Clothes are the main thing as I have nothing to wear at the moment!

Anyway, time to go riding. I won't be back until around 11:30, so won't be able to start my work until 12, which leaves 2 hours for writing and one for tidying! OMG I really need to get my arse in gear!

Day 78

I was away on the long weekend so didn't post for a few days. However, I DID lose weight. OMG... I was not expecting anything good this week as I ate CRAP on the weekend. Not 100% crap as I brought my smoothie making equipment along, but crap as in packets of chips, fried chips, potato cakes, lollies... the sort of stuff that should prevent weight loss. So, this week I must commit 100% to 100% eating (Sat night is my High School Reunion, and even though I have lost weight since the start of the year and am no longer obese, I am still overweight... sad but true).

Well, I will not let my weight get me down, as I HAVE lost 8kg since the start of Feb. No, it's not an amazing weight loss. But it IS loss... and if I keep going the way I am, the weight will keep dropping off. I mean, it's not even 1kg a week, but if I continue to lose approximately 8kg every three months, by the start of August I'll be around 58kg and by the start of December I'll be 50kg, which is my initial goal. Beyond that, I can't say what I'll do ;) It depends on a couple of factors.

Okay, well for today due to the rain outside, I won't be going for a ride. This is fine as I am stuck doing this annoying work that I need to slog through! I have to do at least 5000 words today and send it in to get it approved. Blah. Boring! I don't like missing my exercise, but the weather isn't great for it, and as my eyes are still too poor to go anywhere without glasses, it's sort of difficult to function well in the rain!

Well, I am currently 1800 words down. When I hit the 2000 mark, I'll do my eye exercises, then it will be back to the grind! ARGH...not much fun!

I have read about the "loose skin" problem and ways of dealing with it without plastic surgery. Now, I've never been massively overweight, so I don't have a total body loose skin problem, BUT my belly skin has been loose and saggy since having kids. I have believed for a long time that even if I lost all my excess weight, I'd STILL have saggy skin. However, I have read something that suggests that as long as I lose ALL the excess fat, the skin will tighten up. Now, I don't know about this 100%, my belly has a LOT of stretchmarks which helps account for some of the issue, and I'm not sure that skin is as elastic as normal skin. Anyway, where am I going with this? I don't know if I will have to drop my fat loss further than what it is at 50kg in order to lose the fat I need to get rid of the saggy skin. I did read at one place that "people with less than 10% fat just don't have saggy skin", and I'm not sure I want to actually drop to 10% fat hehe. However, as a woman maybe I wouldn't have to. Still,  I imagine that my fat will be closer to 20% when I'm 50kg. I have also been in the low 50s before and still had the saggy skin. So, I may have to drop lower to get rid of it! I am hoping, however, that if I were to put on fat again after losing it, that the saggy skin wouldn't happen, as the fat would re-pad in the correct area. If that makes sense?! As in, if I lose the fat and the skin tightens, and regain a bit of fat, it shouldn't immediately sag. There is the assumption here that when I was pregnant it was the fat cells that distended and ended up in the "wrong" place causing the sagging, and the skin sagged as a consequence of that.

Anyway, the question is an interesting one and I am hoping that I will get first hand evidence of whether it is true or not that when your fat drops below a certain point, all saggy skin vanishes.  If not, I will just need to generate enough income for a tummy tuck lol.

Now, for the rest of the day... I have this stupid ebook thing to start writing :( I want to get at least 5000 words done, as the entire book will be 15,000 and it needs to be done by the end of the week. ARGH.  I have sooo many other things I want to accomplish this week, and writing this ebook will get in the way of them severely. However, it's $150... problem is, I won't get PAID for another month probably... so I still need to generate some shorter term income. There are a couple of IM things I want to get stuck straight into. One involves article marketing, and the other involves setting up a main site with a network of supporting sites for the main site. So, it is kinda annoying to have a big job this week that will pay peanuts! Ahh well...I just have to get some REAL income generation happening so I can dump the poorly paid freelance work! 2c a word I can handle, but 1c a word is beyond ridiculous as payment. I am not sure why I got this job in the first place, except I was looking for some work! I don't know how or why people would do it for even less. Unless they're doing it for extra pocket money. Maybe as a high school student or even a uni student without a job it would have seemed like great money for me. Now, it kinda sucks.

Anyway, gotta go sort myself out and get ready. It's 9:30 and I'm still in my PJs! I've got to do some riding, some housework, and this stupid 5000 words, plus try and get a bit more work done on my website, and actually start setting up this new article marketing thingy.

Day 74

Not a particularly good day... especially not food wise. This is bad as tomorrow I am taking the kids to see my husband where we'll stay for the long weekend. This means BAD foods and very little that I would usually eat Maybe I should BRING my blender and all my stuff! I think the main thing I did wrong was eat a packet of vegie snack things. Totally yummy but NOT really supportive of my eating.

On the upside, I did a long ride today so that was a plus! Work wise, I finished a writing assignment. BUT I did very little IM work. So it's been a bit up and down really. I haven't done my eye exercises for the day either, which isn't good because I feel that I really need to do them DAILY for the results to stack up. Hmm so all together I have to say I'm not overly happy with today.

Well...not sure what else to report! I didn't get much IM stuff done (oh, well I did complete a new article for a blog), but haven't done the thing I was testing... which isn't good! I wanted to go strong for two weeks to see what sort of results I'd get! However, I really haven't done that, so I need a bit of focus there. I think next week I'll create a new schedule for myself so I can get things in gear a bit better. It's a challenge fitting it all in, and I slipped in several ways today. Especially with my eyes as I won't have the eye exercises to do all weekend!! I definitely need to commit to doing that EVERY day without fail and I need to wear my glasses less than I do.

Day 73

Started today off with a nice long ride, which is always good. I did realise later, though, that I forgot to have protein powder in my breakfast smoothie (silly me!). It's the protein that I need to help keep the appetite down and of course it's useful in muscle building etc. too!

I am struggling a bit getting everything done. Grrr... It's not as if I've been stuffing around, exactly, but I have been doing a lot of playing around with my IM, starting new websites etc. which is taking me time. That's fine, as it is work related, but it takes me away from other stuff that absolutely needs to be done. I didn't get any housework done yesterday, and it is crucial I set aside an hour today to do it. Of course, it's already 2pm and the kids will be home in just 1.5 hours! Then it's basketball for my youngest son, meaning I won't be home until about 5:30. I prefer to do my paid writing work when there are no distractions, too... and I have a job to complete today. It's an easy one, but there is a bit of writing involved. Next week I also have to write a poorly paid ebook lol. However, poorly paid or not it's still $$$ in the bank, which I need until I can monetise myself in other ways.

Ideally I want to get this IM set up so I'm making enough money that I can quit the freelance writing and go full into my own writing (with some time set aside for doing IM). Oh, although, I have noticed there are a few writers in the Warrior Forum advertising their services, so I may try there. I just need to get my post count up a bit by participating in discussions. This will help give me some sort of credibility! I may also make one of my domains into a freelance writing site for myself so people can actually go there and see samples of my writing. Not sure which one yet! I definitely don't have a domain name related to freelance writing, but I have one that's kinda useless for anything else (I believe it had a good purpose when I bought it, but not so now). I also had a directory website with a great name for a directory, but I don't want to set up another directory ;) It really didn't make any money and it took me time to do all the submissions. I sometimes used to get like 100 submissions a day or something insane!

I may consider selling that domain name... we will see. Too bad I didn't sell it before the directory went bust (I'm not sure what happened by the site went down and never came back up again...and I couldn't access it) At least then it had some traffic hehe! The other bad name can probably be used easy enough for my freelance site, and as I'm not planning on being a full time freelancer forever (or even for long) it will do the trick, at least as a site I can send people to so they can download sample articles or whatever. Can possibly put a paypal button on the site too so people can pay me direct. We'll see! It may work out better than the bidding I'm doing in Elance at the moment. At least if I could get a regular gig writing articles for a reasonable price (or a few regular gigs) I'd be better off than I am now when I get stuff very sporadically.

Anyway, that is something I will plan AFTER I have finished the ebook I need to write and the other job I need to complete. I may whip up a new schedule for myself that includes time AFTER school...the after school time needs to be a little more flexible though!

Well I have rescued a couple more domain names...if that is what you can call it! There were three I had that have expired and I now have access to them again. One, I don't think I'll get back. Oh, I've changed my mind... it has PR2... so it could be worth keeping! Not sure what to DO with it though! It was a directory site, but I don't really want to create another directory. So what could directastic be???? I'll have to think about it!

Day 72

It's already Wednesday! The weeks are flying by far too fast, and I am not accomplishing nearly enough! Maybe I just set my sights too high?? Hmm... I don't think so... I think I do spend too much time not doing the quality tasks I need to get done.

So, today... I need to do my eye exercises (next), then go for my ride, then start the next writing job (try and get 50% of it completed today), then do my new IM work (testing the method), then do one hour cleaning the house, then do some more IM education. This is waaaaay off my original schedule, I know, because I've added IM to the mix. My personal writing is getting bumped to the side here which is annoying, as are my education things (including my writing course, German learning and Feng Shui). GRRRR... At least I am mostly keeping up with my exercise (not necessarily EPOC though). It's very hard when there's so much to fit in BUT I also know that I waste time on forums and stuff like that when I could be working.

So, time to do my eye exercises and I'll report back later what I've accomplished today.

Day 71

Okay, today is another busy one. I have the last article in the article set to write, which will net me a small amount of money. I also have another job to get stuck into which will net me an even smaller amount of money! I still want to do the online marketing idea that I started yesterday (I need to get stuck into it for two solid weeks to see if it nets me any results... if it gets me more than I get writing for other people, well I'll be dumping that lol).

I still have to go cycling today, but I've done my eye exercises. Once I get back from my ride I'll do the article and THEN before anything else, I will spend about an hour giving the house a quick tidy (floors, sofa, tables etc. nothing major, just getting rid of the lion's share of the mess). I still have to do my daughter's room (that's been outstanding for weeks now... and it's rather shocking at the moment as she was looking for her goggles). I also need to get some laundry done.

Well, it's nearly 11, so must get started on that ride or I'll never accomplish the rest of my goals! The kids have a friend coming around after school... may still take them to the lake for a run though. We'll see! Better than having them stuck in front of the TV the whole time!

Sooo... I did my ride, got the article done, got stuck into my new IM strategy, and tidied up for an hour. I also watched a few videos for an IM product that I'm considering buying (considering fairly hard cause it seems to be a really excellent one). So, while it sort of felt as if I hadn't accomplished much today, I DID do some of what I set out to do! Tomorrow I need to spend another hour on the house, and I also need to do this other writing job I've got.  It is kinda sucky but hopefully won't be too hard ;) just a lot of rambling on and writing bogus reviews. Great job, huh??

Day 70

I just realised I have missed a day somewhere... it should be day 71 as it's the start of the week. Oh well! Anyway, amazingly I LOST a little bit more weight. Not a significant amount, but that was to be expected after last week's indulgences! Overall I wasn't terrible last week, but I think I did eat more than normal (the snacks etc. during the week, the junky food yesterday and Saturday...) I am quite amazed that there was downward progression to be honest! Ahh well, this week I'm putting in extra effort so there should DEFINITELY be a downard trend next week!

Okay, well the plan for today... first, I will clean my study. It's a mess! Mostly because of mice, partly because of children, and it has to be admitted, partly because of me! Then, I will spend a bit of time on this money earning method that I found out about yesterday. (Maybe an hour?). Next it is time for my eye exercises! Then, I will go for a ride, I was thinking of taking a longer ride than usual but time is of the essence. Once I am home, I have an article to write (which I'll be paid for because I finished the set, yay!). Then, I will run through the house and straighten it up a bit (it's fairly feral). I also need to do my EPOC exercises today! Is that enough?? Haha... well I also have my writing course that I need to do at least an hour on because I NEED to get that first assignment back ASAP. It's been lingering far too long ;) After the kids get home will probably take them to the lake so my son can do his running (lucky little fella!). So... there's a lot to do! I won't necessarily put a time on things, we'll just see how it goes!

Well... today was a bit of a dead loss in many ways. I didn't get done a LOT of things that I wanted to do! I spent most of the time stuffing around with IM... but I DID start one IM money making method. I'm going to try it out for a couple of weeks and see how it goes (I've only got the preparation phase started... so not making anything yet!).

I also COMPLETELY neglected exercise! Yes, even though I planned to cycle, do EPOC and run with my son, I did NOTHING. After school I was feeling tired (late night last night!) and thus I didn't achieve anything. I have realised that I do need to do my ride early in the day. 10:30 is good because that's usually when the mail is sorted. If I leave it too late I make excuses and don't go. That's not really satisfactory, especially when I didn't go every day last week, and as next week's got a long weekend, I won't be going every day next week either.

Hmm and tomorrow I need to clean the house a bit... it's really bad and all I did today was the study. Obviously, I need to get down and dirty and do a wee bit more than this room! The living area is very untidy... and I need to keep working on the laundry. And I'm not even mentioning the bedrooms here!! Hmm and I have a client giving me more work, unfortunately it's not the high paying kind! This is why I want to get profitable in IM... so I don't have to write articles for peanuts ;) I still have an article which needs to go out tomorrow morning to a client who DOES pay okay! So that will be done first...then I will do the other work. Apparently they have an eBook for me to write too... ho hum... if it paid a bit better I'd be happier about it ;)

Day 69

As anticipated, no post yesterday. Well, there was nothing GOOD to post anyway! Going away to an expo at the showgrounds means eating isn't what it could be. Also, today was a bit of a dead loss... this morning I ate a good breakfast as usual, and later in the day we went for a walk around the lake (so far so good!). However, I had to take my husband home and we were away during tea time, which meant junk for tea! Ate some chips and then some hot chips. Full of fat, carbs and blah... so yeah, didn't end the day well (oh... and had a Kahlua (sp??) and coke to round it all off).

And thus... not expecting great things weight wise tomorrow! I did good exercise during the week, but not enough to make up for the poor eating really. Hmm... now it's less than two weeks to the reunion (gulp!) so I am wondering what I can accomplish in that time if I give it 250% effort! Kinda like they do in The Biggest Loser to get massive weight loss in a short time!

Basically eating must be 100%... no ifs ands or buts about it... And exercise needs to be ramped up to the next level. This means LONGER rides, EPOC three times a week without fail, and extra exercise thrown in. My husband and I made a deal with our 11 year old son that we'll buy him a new Nintendo DSi XL WHEN he runs around the lake (6km) without stopping (well maybe to drink ;)). For some kids this wouldn't be too hard (in fact... we will not challenge the 9 year old with the same deal cause he'd probably be able to do it in a relatively short time), but my oldest son is quite sedentary and overweight. He's 3cm taller than his younger brother and probably outweighs him by a good 15kg or more. I've really been trying to prevent him from eating so much, but it seems that my efforts aren't enough... so we have to try something to really push him harder! He'll be starting high school next year, and he's the sort of kid who's going to find it hard enough (he's the short, brainy, bookish type of kid) without being obese to boot. At least if we can get him to a healthy weight he'll have somewhat of an easier time! (I can only hope). At least he's not shy ;) He's very academically keen though... which is sort of alienating from a lot of the peer group who think it's not cool to study!

So... I basically said that after school I'll take the kids to the lake and we'll start off easy... 500m jog, 500m walk then we'll turn back for a further 500m jog and 500m walk (each 500m around the lake's perimeter is marked out). Once he's good at that we'll go further before turning back, until we can get the whole 6km around (maybe alternating walking and jogging still). Of course, I have to not only take him but my 9 year old son and 8 year old daughter, so we'll all be getting exercise.

Anyway, this means I'll be not only getting exercise cycling and doing EPOC but jogging as well. That plus ultra healthy eating should kick me out of this plateau phase I'm in at the moment.

Now onto tomorrow... I have LOTS to achieve. I need to get stuck into the house (not much got done on the weekend at all so it's in a bit of a state), and I need to really get into money making activities. I have an article to finish, and I'll probably be given more work from another client (poor paying though :( ) I'm also going to try to get back into some online affiliate marketing. I've been reading a couple of great reports that have given me some fantastic ideas (both long term and short term earning potential). Ideally I'd like to set up a few websites and get them earning $1000 a month or so. Once I can get these sort of income streams set up, I can focus more on my own writing and not need to worry so much about trying to get Elance writing gigs for other people.

Now, I have tried affiliate marketing in the past and never really made great strides (I did make some $$$ but not enough to retire on lol). However, as in most things, I sort of flitted from one thing to another, not really sticking firmly with a single program. I still have a tendency to look for the "next big thing"... but I know that's not really ideal. I now have an excellent blueprint for setting up a money site (not sure of topic yet though...) which is sort of a long term thing (may take awhile to start earning money), but I've also read of a short term way of getting products promoted and sold. It's the sort of method where you may get a couple of hundred dollars one day and nothing for the next three days... and there's no long term potential in it BUT if I could make, say, an average of $100 a day on it (even less would do) it would free up more of my time and resources into putting together a quality site and promoting it. It seems to be a bit of a random method... in that you can maybe make $600 in a few hours if you hit on the right thing at the right time, but other times the payoff is a lot less. However, putting some hard time and experimentation into it will hopefully pay off.

Also, this second method doesn't require me to have a website (I do have a couple of websites still... I had a bunch more at some stage but lost most of my domain names... bad registrar lol... the GoDaddy domain names I bought first I still have, but they're not great domains...I bought them before I knew anything about creating good keyword rich domain names). Anyway, I will probably end up getting another domain name and some more hosting for my long term site plan. I don't want to end up with a zillion websites though, cause it's too confusing haha. 10 sites all earning a few hundred a month would be ideal! But that's long term... Eventually I want to be able to have money sites that don't need too much continual work (barring the occasional blog post etc.) so I can get onto my MAIN job of being a WRITER of fiction rather than a writer of web content ;)

Anyways... all this means I have lots of work tomorrow! I'll do a bit of research for the niche for my main website, and will try this other method to get an injection of a bit of ready cash. I'll try and do this for an hour or two tomorrow and see how I go (however I won't get any good results until I've done it consistently for a couple of weeks I don't think... too many variables and too much experimentation).

Well, it seems what started off as a quick daily update has become an essay, and it's already tomorrow lol. So, high time I was in BED!

Day 67

Geez it's nearly day 70 already! Wow... I know I expected to have achieved more by this stage, but I still can't say I'm unhappy with where I am. So, today as usual I have stuck to eating well so far. My biggest concern, I think, food wise is that I'm not sure I'm getting enough variety. I tend to stick to a pretty standard diet, simply because I know I enjoy what I'm having. Nevertheless, I think I could be adding a greater variety of foods to what I eat... it's how to incorporate them that's the challenge! This is probably something I need to work on over the next few weeks.

Anyway, today is a busy one, which means I won't be getting much work done ;) It's already after 12 (almost 12:30) and I still have to go into town for a haircut and shopping. This will take me awhile! I did promise my daughter I'd help with her room, but it STILL hasn't happened, and I'm not sure there will be time for much today. This means, I need to sign off for now and get going!

Day 66

The weeks are going too quickly! I can't believe it's already Thursday and nearly the end of the week. Well, what can I say about yesterday? The BAD thing is I bought some chickpea chips and ate most of them :( I can't do that again! I still have the rest of the packet which I will finish. Those are the things I can have OCCASIONALLY after I've lost my excess weight, not before! While they are high in protein, they're also high in carbs, and I don't need the extra carbs, that's for sure!

So, what else? I didn't do EPOC yesterday, my legs were still really sore from Monday (which means I need to be more REGULAR about my exercise) and I was running behind on my schedule. And today, basically, I will be throwing the old schedule out the door! Today I need to focus on CLEANING. Specifically, my daughter's room, which never really got tidied after we moved house. In fact, she just emptied stuff directly into the wardrobe I think! The problem is that at the end of last term I gave her her NEW goggles and told her to put them safely away. Right... so you can imagine what that means... she can't find them AND she's got swimming at school today and after school tomorrow. SO she has borrowed her brother's for today (he didn't want them) but I want to find hers for tomorrow. I also want her room sorted out, because just going in there drives me insane. She's also too young to really deal with that quantity of mess herself. She can do basic cleaning and tidying (she's 8) but when confronted with an enormous pile of STUFF she gets overwhelmed (I know the feeling!) So I told her I will help her sort out her room, but she has to maintain it when it's clean. Which I think is fair enough!

So, I will be spending a lot of time today in her room. I want to get the stuff off the floor cleaned at least (she tipped out her toy bucket, which was filled with a mismash of stuff, and we hauled stuff out of her wardrobe onto the floor to search through it. Once the floor is cleaned, I'll start attacking the wardrobes. Sigh! Ahh well, one of my goals for this year was to be TIDY and I've been failing in that one. So, I will do some focus on that.

The other thing I want to focus on is WRITING my own book. That is something that is really crucial for me at the moment. Getting freelance jobs is all fine and well (and, to be fair, completely necessary), but I'll never get OUT of freelancing unless I can get my own writing published. Other stuff I really WANT to achieve, but I think that has to come first. I don't necessarily have to spend hours and hours a day on my writing, but I do want to spend at least an hour in solid writing each weekday (and maybe weekends too...when I've got some time). So the focus for the next few weeks will be a) the house b) my own writing. I will also be bidding on freelance work, and naturally doing that when I get awarded jobs. I do need to earn MONEY after all!

Oh, and of course my EYES. I will be doing my eye exercises each day, as well as riding each day and becoming healthier. The healthy thing goes without saying! It is just regular daily stuff...so I wouldn't call it a focus right now because it should be an integral part of my life. Eating is generally good (except for these chips I bought) as I rarely have anything really bad. However, I also need to fit in my EPOC three times a week which I haven't been great at.

However, the house must be a big priority as I feel living in a mess sort of clouds me mentally and emotionally. I can't get good work done when I'm surrounded by an untidy, yucky working and living environment. So! House will be the first major thing for today (well I will go on my ride, do my eyes and then do the house). I want to spend the last hour of the day or so sitting down before the computer and WRITING though.

Okay, well it's now just after half past 11. I've been for my ride and am now dyeing my hair. Yeah, I'd forgotten that I had to do it today ;) I wanted to do it last night, but the whole process takes some time and you end up going to bed with wet hair (I like to wait till the kids are asleep, so I don't get started until late). So I basically have half an hour before I have to go wash it out. Later today I also have to go shopping for garbage bags and spinach (sooo stupid of me to forget yesterday :(...) So, that is something else that will waste precious time today. AND tomorrow is shopping day... blah... maybe I should just do all the shopping today so I don't have to go again tomorrow? Although, I also have to get my hair cut tomorrow...Meh... PITA. I really NEED to get those couple of things today... ahh well... if I go for a quick shop today, I will do the full shop tomorrow after I've had my hair cut. I'll also be straightening my hair tomorrow cause my sister and I have something on on Saturday and I want my hair nice for it ;) (and that's why I'm dyeing it now). The annoying this is that I'll have to wear these stupid old glasses. I thought of wearing contacts, but I haven't worn them in months so my eyes will be really sore by the end of the day if I try to wear them. If we were only going out at night I would definitely wear them. (Life will be so much easier once I've fixed my vision).

It's now half past twelve, my hair is done, but I am now doing my eyebrows! Not quite the same production as dyeing hair though ;) Just a 10 minute job. Wow I lost a LOT of hair in the shower after dyeing. I mean a LOT. Scary! I have heard that when one starts to detox their hair falls out a lot...which I DON'T want as I am growing my hair (it starts getting stringy, especially at the ends, when I lose a lot... and I end up having to get a fair chunk cut off to compensate). I want it down to my waist, so I really don't want to lose heaps ;) It's reasonably long by now... I guess it should be to my waist in another year (provided I don't get huge quantities chopped off).  I've never had particularly thick hair, so any large loss is definitely BAD.

Hmm once I've done my eyebrows, I will have to do my eye exercises. Then I'll zip up to the shops. Then I'll spend about an hour in my daughter's room (focussing mainly on the floor at the moment). And finally I'll try to spend at least an hour working on my novel. Hmm after I have changed the kitty litter and cleaned out the mice. I may also give the study a five minute going over and a vacuum. The frogs probably need some more water too! Haha it's no wonder I never get everything I want to do finished ;) Tomorrow will be another busy day with a ride first thing, then I'll have a shower and go into town for a haircut and shopping. I imagine that will take up the lion's share of the day! Tomorrow I'll probably also work on my daughter's room and do some shopping. And that's the end of the school week! So... another week over and not nearly enough accomplished.

Oh, and for the next two weeks after this I'll be trying EXTRA hard to lose weight as it will only be two weeks until my high school reunion (of course, I need to determine if my friends are definitely going before I buy tickets!!) In that fortnight I want to put everything I can into my weight loss and toning. This means LONG rides every day, it means EPOC three times a week without fail, and it means perfect eating. Fair sized ask or what?? I don't know how much I'll lose, but any is a bonus ;) Ideally I'll drop another 4kg. That would be nice! I'll still be overweight, but you know, not massively overweight. Of course I didn't meet my goals for perfection by the first of May, but I am a LONG way from where I started, not least because for the most part I DO eat well and I DO consistently lose weight. It's dropped off a bit over the holidays, and this week hasn't been fantastic, but I have shown myself that I can consistently eat the right foods and do exercise. This is something I just haven't been able to accomplish in YEARS.

Okay, done my eye exercises and updated my vision blog. Now, it's 1:30 so I need to get a wriggle on! I don't know if I'll have the chance to do one hour of tidying plus an hour of writing before the kids get home. Well, strike that... I WON'T cause it's two hours until home time and I have to go shopping first ;)

Ho hum... nothing much good to report. I got stuck reading some stuff online... sort of motivated me, and then didn't! And as a result, I didn't get my goals completed for the day :( Disappointing! And now I've got laundry and stuff to do... so I shall go do that and plan tomorrow better!

Day 65

Well, today hasn't started according to my "plan" exactly! I have done my eye exercises but no other work (stuffed around a bit reading emails etc.) AND it's already time I was on my ride! Ahh well... I think I will create a new plan with a little more flexibility thrown in. Today I want to work on a) my own writing and b) the Feng Shui course I have. I will have a quick browse through Elance for jobs to bid on, but I still haven't heard back from my client about the work I've done, so I'll leave the next article until tomorrow (it's the last in the series I was hired to do). Because I have very little freelance work, I need to get stuck heavily into my own novel. I'm also contemplating creating affiliate sites again. I may just start with one and work on building it up (a few years ago I had a bit of a go at it... created a few websites, but nothing much came out of it). I think if I focus on one particular affiliate product that I can really get behind, and do blogging etc. about it, I may have a chance of creating something worthwhile. I'm thinking of maybe the vision product I'm using, and incorporating my blog into it. However, I want to get some RESULTS first! I may also search for a couple of other affiliate products that I really feel I can get behind. In the past I was a great deal more haphazard about promoting products. I don't actually feel it works well unless you really ARE passionate about what you're promoting. In this way I want to set up a few income streams that will help for when times are tough (like now!).

Okay, time to kick myself in the BUTT. It is almost 1pm and I have accomplished very little. I can tick off eye exercises and cycling but THAT'S IT! I need to do some of MY WRITING today. Even if I don't get my Feng Shui study done until after the kids are home. I'd like to do at least a solid hour. AND I have to go shopping to buy more fruit as we're out of apples (not surprising as I usually have four a day lol and the kids also have one or two a day).  SO...I will spend the next 5 minutes on Elance looking for jobs. THEN I will do an hour on my writing (until 2:00) and then I will drive to the supermarket. When I get back I'll do some more writing (until kids get home). After the kids are home I'll start studying a bit of Feng Shui, and I'll try and straighten up this study... which is getting quite messy AGAIN! (Not helped by kids or mice... I am getting sawdust everywhere from the mouse cage being moved around by the kids).

Day 64

Eating yesterday was okay. Not perfect, but okay... I finished the rest of my vegetarian deli slices in a sandwich, which isn't really part of my eating plan ;) Anyway, I want to go back to eating pretty much raw all day with maybe a cooked thing in the evening. At least for awhile ;) Eventually I'm going to want to drop the cooked thing altogether!

While I only did a useless bit of bike ride yesterday, I DID do my EPOC exercises (and those squats really worked my thighs! I was surprised my thighs were so tired out, as I would have imagined my riding to have strengthened them a bit... but it could be a slightly different muscle usage). So, yesterday went okay.

As far as my schedule went. It was ho hum... I did write an article, I did spend some focus time in one room, and I did do some of my writing course. However, I did NOT do 5 minutes in each room (I did two rooms for five minutes each) and I didn't do any of my own personal writing. I also went over time for most things. I think it's because a schedule doesn't leave any room for transition time.

It's now 10:30 which is riding time. So I need to get my rear in gear and get onto my bike ;) This also involves getting water, setting up my iPod etc. etc. so it does take me a few minutes to get going. Anyway, it's cold but NOT raining at the moment! So I'll get on and do that and we'll see if we can keep this schedule a bit better. I may also have to change a bit and put in blogging... I also want to extend it out to 5:00 or 5:30 because even though the kids are home, that is still time I can accomplish some tasks (except Thursdays and Fridays because of after school activities). It's a bit harder to work with the kids around, but not impossible ;)

Okay, done and finished my ride! It was chilly at first but I warmed up about half way through (as most of the way there is downhill I don't require much exertion therefore don't warm up much...it's the way back where I get my workout). So phew! And it's not much past 11, so I'll get onto my work now!

Hmm well today... what did I accomplish? I did my riding, that's one tick... I did some bidding on Elance... I did a wee bit of German (don't think I accomplished much though...I am a bit disorganised in my learning). I think I will have to focus on learning, say, 10 German words each day. I still have to focus on GRAMMAR as well though. Eeep... vocab is easier than Grammar I think!

Day 63

Well, the weight loss wasn't startling. In fact, I had to take my PJs off to weigh myself or I would have weighed MORE than last week, and that wasn't acceptable to me ;)

So, this week I really need to get stuck into some HARD work. Today's looking a bit cold and manky outside, but I must cycle regardless. I thought of dissing it for the day, but really, I can't. It's too important to get straight back into it and working HARD. There's no excuse for me to wallow a day longer.

Haha I did a schedule last night, thought it was really great, then realised I'd left out the house cleaning part! So, looks like it's back to the drawing board. It seems I have soooo much to do in such a little amount of time! I don't know what I'll do if my freelance writing fills up, because I'll have to squish a lot of other stuff to the side. But for today, it's all good. I only have one job to do, and really only one article to write ;) So, I'll do something to fix my chart and get going with it!

Okay, well I did my eye exercises and started a new blog regarding my vision improvement. However, my schedule is right out of whack as it's almost 11:00 now and I haven't gone riding and I haven't done any of my freelance work! EEEP. I think that's what happens with a new activity or exercise... it takes longer because you have to read all the directions and suchlike to get started, so the eye exercises took longer than anticipated. Also starting a new blog takes time! However, it is one I may be able to monetise in the future (if I can improve my vision, then I should be able to sell the Rebuild Your Vision course as an affiliate, as I will be an excellent testimonial for the fact that it WORKS). Now, onto some work!

Ahh well I had a brief but aborted ride...it was spitting with rain and my glasses were getting annoyingly wet. I decided to turn back when I got to the white gate. So, not a very long ride at all... still I got quite warm and worked up a wee bit of sweat and puffing. Still, not really enough for proper exercise! But still, something is better than nothing. Ironically the rain has sort of stopped now! If it had stopped earlier, I probably would have continued. Ahh well... I do need to get some of this work done! My schedule is already way out of whack.

Okay... let me see. Well I've written the article I needed to get done. I've also tidied the laundry (half an hour) and done a bit of straightening up in the dining room. Hmm... however it's 2:12pm... so I am waaaaay off any schedule. I haven't done my own writing and I haven't done any of my writing course! Oh, and I haven't done my EPOC either! EEP. 

Sooo... prioritise prioritise... what is most important? EPOC is harder to do when the kids are home, whereas I can do writing with the kids home (it does get interrupted, but it's still possible). So I think I will try for my EPOC and then get onto my writing. At least that gets some of today's goals sorted out. Hmm... I also need to call about the pet registrations... *sigh*. I won't get them paid today, maybe I can squeeze it in tomorrow? Oh yeah, cause I'll have sooo much more time tomorrow than I had today (lol).

Day 62

Well today is the end of another week, and tomorrow morning is another weigh in! Hopefully the weight has gone down a bit or I'll need to get a bit tough ;) Well, I should probably say TOUGHER! Today was ho hum... took my husband home after having a quick bite to eat for lunch, and of course he bought a block of chocolate and a packet of Starbursts. Yup, I ate a bit of choc and quite a few bursts! However, am finishing off with a healthy green smoothie.

Tomorrow also heralds the start of second term, so kids are back at school! Yay! Well, I do love my kids but having a bit of kid-free time is great too. It also means BACK TO WORK in a big way. Last term I was waaay too slack about my paid work. This term, no excuses. I have limited money left and I need to start thinking about next year with my oldest son starting high school. Yes, he's got a 50% scholarship, which is FANTASTIC. BUT I still have to pay 50% private school fees! (Not cheap!) Not to mention school books, a uniform, and apparently they also need a computer (which I think can be leased). So all up, plenty of money... and at the moment I just couldn't hope to pay it with what I make. I want to start with a goal of $300 a week from freelance work. I will also be doing my own writing in this time, in the hopes of a writing contract! My ultimate goal, of course, is being a self supporting novelist. Difficult, yes, but sooo worth it! It's not about making mega bucks for me, but it is about being able to support myself and my family and being able to work from home. Freelance also lets me work from home, but that requires lots of job bidding and working for other people (most are great, some are challenging).

Tomorrow is also the day when I have to get back into riding and do some more exercise! These holidays I've been way too indolent, and I'm sure it will show in my fitness tomorrow (nothing worse than getting fitter and finding your fitness decrease after a couple of sedentary weeks). I also need to get back into my BodySculpt bands for strength training. Both aspects are important. I also need to start my EYE exercises. AND I need to go to the council to register my cats (tried to do it Friday as the deadline was Saturday, but I don't have the microchip numbers because they were never sent to me in the mail as they were supposed to be!) I need to call the vet about it and find out. Ho hum...

My focus room for cleaning tomorrow will be the LAUNDRY. Why? Because it's giving me the shits. It is one of the least sorted areas of the house, and because it's the place where the cats are fed and have their litter tray, it's also prone to get yucky... not to mention the piles of dirty laundry around. So, that will be my 1 hour focus room. Every other room gets a quick 5 minute tidy. Hmm... I also need to schedule my other "important" but not everyday activities for the week.

Now, I think Monday will be my writing course day. So that will be my "extracurricular" activity (errm not really the right term... but my non-work related activity). Tuesday will be my German day, and I'll figure out my other stuff later. Hehe. Eventually I'll create a timetable for myself and get down my weekly stuff... I may do that tonight before bed! I want an early night because tomorrow will be an early day and a busy one at that.

Day 61

Well the day started okay eating wise, but degenerated into junk food with KFC for tea! I had fries and P&G (must look up the ingredients list of it)... plus a fruity crusher (mixed berry). Could have been worse I guess! Hmm I am trying to type on my laptop keyboard...it's a challenge. I'm used to the external one. Unfortunately the external one is cordless, as is the mouse... and the mouse ran out of batteries so I had to plug in a USB mouse. This would be fine except I had to use the port that does the keyboard and mouse thingy... so no keyboard! I need to go get new batteries, or charge these ones (the rechargable ones work fine and then die suddenly).

Anyway, not much else to report! It's Saturday night, only tomorrow and then school is back, and I must get my A into G! It will be back to daily riding and doing BodySculpt at least 3 times a week. I also want to start doing the 5 Tibetan Rituals (for longevity).

Anyway, I must go and entertain my husband (whatever that entails... but probably nothing very interesting!)

Day 60

Well my husband is here today, and wants to go and "do something" so I won't be getting much work done. However, I have had an invitation to write a short eBook, which if it goes through will be a little extra money. I'm also planning on bidding for another, which if I get it should provide money for a couple of months (not heaps... as in about $300 a week) but still, that's okay right now! A bit of part time regular work which I can fit into my day and which will help me pay for food and bills is exactly what I need!

Well, we went shopping then when to register the pets. Hmm turns out that I don't have the right microchip numbers because I wasn't sent the documentation with the numbers on! I was using the numbers on the tags, which is the WRONG THING. So, I have to call the vet's or the animal records place to get the actual NUMBERS. Which I should have received in the mail... maybe the vet didn't send the documentation?? Hmm...

Anyway, after that we went to the lake for a picnic. Nice idea... but it started to rain ;) Fortunately we were just finishing our food, so it could have been worse! It's coming down pretty hard right now ;) Rain is good, but Jeff actually wanted to spend time with the kids out of the house and it ain't happening!

Well, rain is good for the garden... and the lake was looking more like puddles than a lake, so it's more opportunity to fill it! Hopefully by winter the lake will be looking a little more lake-like. It has been dry now for awhile, with below average rainfall for the last 10 years. So far this year we've had FOUR TIMES the amount of rainfall we had at the same time last year. Yay! And we're currently OVER the average for this time of year for the first time in goodness' knows how long. So that's very exciting ;) Hopefully the drought is over (it's been ten years, which is well and truly long enough). We've been on water restrictions for years now. The kids really don't even know what it's like to spend summers running under the sprinkler, because sprinklers for grass and lawn have been banned since they were quite young. While I don't know if sprinklers for lawn will ever come back, hopefully one of these years we'll start being able to wash our cars again (right now you have to take your car to the car wash... you're not even allowed to use buckets!).

Anyway, that's all irrelevant ;) Today I bought some vegie luncheon meat... I assumed it was vegan, but when I opened it I found out that it's not!! Oooh... I started to worry that I've been eating "vegetarian" meat that isn't actually vegan. However, I checked the other stuff I bought and only one said it "May contain traces of milk", so it doesn't have added milk, but may have a bit. So, it isn't too bad. It was just the slices! So, no more slices! I only bought them so I could have a sort of "normal" picnic lunch. Ahh well, so it was vegetarian not vegan... I will live.

Hmm I've been having headaches lately, and I'm not sure why. Well I know I have to try 100% raw and I have been failing at that. Hmm right now I'd be happy to have an all raw dinner, BUT lunch wasn't raw at all (except for the tabouli which was raw  hehe). Maybe that's why I feel like raw now! Most days I don't even EAT lunch at all... I just have my big brekky and then I have tea (which by that time I want something cooked and warm and savoury rather than rather sweet). I need to do some serious work on this! I have plenty of vegie sausages, burgers etc. but I need to wean off them.

Day 59

I can't decide whether wearing pinhole glasses is better or worse. I can see the words, but there's so much distortion that it's annoying. However, I CAN read what I'm typing now, and without glasses I can't... it's just a blur. Unless I lean forward and strain! I really need to get stuck into these eye exercises. I'm also not sure whether I should get new glasses yet or wait a few weeks. I think waiting perhaps 6 weeks would be a good idea, especially if my eyes have improved by then. I can then convince the optometrist that I'm improving my vision, and can get weaker lenses. BUT in the meantime the current ones will get too strong (even though they're old glasses) which will cause eyestrain. Maybe instead I should give it no more than 3 weeks, maybe get SOME improvement and ask if he can give me weaker lenses. It's just annoying the thought of having to go through a couple of pairs of lenses within a few months because my eyes are getting better. BUT I will still need decent glasses for driving. Such a conundrum!

I may do a 30 day eye improvement challenge and get new glasses after that. Then maybe go another 60 days before getting new lenses (if it's necessary).Ideally I would fix my eyes to the point where I can say goodbye to glasses for good. Hopefully after only ONE lense change. However, I have read of people who have improved their vision but still have a weak pair of glasses for when they need it. However, I want PERFECTION here... you know 20/20 vision... I could cope a lot better with eyes that are a little weaker though... However, I really DO love to see clearly. I think everyone does! I also hate glasses cause my EARS are uneven. I wouldn't have even noticed this fact, except that glasses don't sit square on my face as a result. How annoying is THAT??!! I look forward to having as good a vision as possible, so I will work hard to strengthen my eyes to the point that they work normally. But yeah, I accept Iwill need some driving glasses in that time. So, 30 days hard work, then to the optometrist. I will start on Monday (first day of the school term). I should be able to judge any improvements by the eye chart I got with my kit. When I watch TV I will try and wear these pinhole glasses, and I'll also try and use computer without glasses or with pinholes.

For reading books, NO GLASSES. I just have to remind myself of this. I certainly don't need them for any near work, so wearing them is very counterproductive. I also have to focus on getting good nutrition for my eyes, which hopefully will also help them. And positive thinking and belief!

I wrote my article YAY, I just need to do another tomorrow! I also need to start looking seriously for some more work. Ho hum. That can wait until Monday. Also on Monday I will focus on planning my week to fit everything I want to in, in big enough chunks that everything gets done! The problem with trying to do sooo many things is that time is quite limited hehe.

The other thing I need to do is get stuck into the HOUSE. Yup, cleaning properly and decluttering. I am thinking one focus room a day and 15 mins in all the other rooms (barring the toilet... I don't think the toilet needs 15 mins lol, well at least not 15 minutes a day!) The focus room I can give say, one hour to. Now let me see... I have 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, study, living area, dining area, kitchen and laundry (no I didn't coutn the toilet). That's 11 rooms, which would be 4 rooms an hour... and therefore it would be almost 3 hours of work WITHOUT the focus room. Humm... probably too much when I only get 6.5 hours of child free time each day, AND I need to do work somewhere in there as well! Hmm how about 5 mins in each room and 1 hour focus? And the focus room doesn't get the extra 5 mins... so that would be 10 rooms at 5 mins each so 50, plus the hour... One hour fifty... not so bad! Rotate the focus room each day, so 5 rooms would get done each week.

The other things I need to do in order: paid work, getting more paid work, personal writing work. After those income generating things there are: writing course, learning German, eyesight fixing, feng shui course, PD focus. I am not including general daily exercise either, which has to be done each day. Now, I will say that exercise, plus eye exercises must be done EVERY day. There's no question about that! The other things can be cycled. So, I will do one on each day of the week. Let's say: Monday writing, Tuesday German, Wednesday Feng Shui, Thursday PD, Friday ??? (maybe some hobby related thing such as cross stitching or scrapbooking both of which I've got sitting around and not being worked on, of course, these are things that can be done in the evening too). Perhaps I should just save Friday as shopping day and be done with it? I prefer shopping sans kids... they are challenging ;) I do want to schedule in some hobby things somewhere too... I think I don't get started on them because there is so much else I feel I HAVE to do first (such as clean the house and make it more comfortable to live in). This is silly ;) but it is sort of how I feel when it comes to doing crafts and suchlike. Anyhoo if I stick to doing crafts once a week, say Friday evenings, the house should be pretty tidy by then anyway ;) at least, it will be if I stick to my goal! By the end of the week 5 rooms should have had 1 hour each, and the rest will all have had an additional 25 minutes. My tidying on Friday should involve mopping floors and vacuuming or something instead of focussing on a single room. Hmm... Will have to contemplate this.

Day 58

Holidays are such lazy times... I sleep in until 9 (bearing in mind that daylight savings just finished... so a week ago it would have been 10), and then laze around in my PJ's on the computer for awhile afterwards (errm it's now 11 and yep, still in my PJs).

I am thinking I need to find a job or two to bid for on Elance... I need the $$$ badly! I don't like thinking in terms of financial "lack" because it's negative in terms of LOA. But it is hard when I have no work and very little money coming in ;) SO I need to get my rear in ger and procure some good jobs! I also need to finish up the job I HAVE got!

Hmm well I didn't get today's work done... very bad indeed. GRR holidays are really bad in this regard. It's my own fault for not focussing properly because the conditions aren't "right"... but that's really no excuse.  It needs to be done tomorrow at the latest... AND I will have to go shopping as well probably. Out of cat food, and certain other important items.

Anyway, today I got both my pinhole glasses and my Rebuild Your Vision course. I need to get stuck into it well and truly next week... no excuses for that! Good vision is too important ;) I am wearing the pinholes now. I can sort of see better with them... but they're weird and vision is sort of honeycombed. Mind you I can read these words, and without the pinholes I wouldn't have been able to. I do have a bit of a headache, but I'm not sure this is the cause. Maybe wearing my old glasses? I only started getting them after my glasses broke. Very annoying! Well next week I will probably go into the optometrist and see if he can give me glasses that are weak. Probably half a diopter weaker than they should be. It will be enough for me to see pretty well, but will be better for my eyes. And it will be better for when my eyes start to IMPROVE! I will also only wear them when I absolutely need to. 

Day 57

Well the days are fairly whizzing by... Scary but true! And if it wasn't for Easter, I probably would have averaged 1kg a week over the past 8 weeks, which isn't too shabby ;) Ahh well, can't always have perfection!

Today, I am going back to eating properly! I don't know if I'll have a cooked thingy for tea or not. I do have two thingys left haha... but I think I will try and forego them. Today I will try to be as raw and pure as possible. I really do need to neutralize the poor eating of the past few days! I had three days of just junk :( No meat or anything but certainly mostly unhealthy rubbish (chips, crackers, lollies... yup all of that!). It's actually surprising that my weight was as low as it actually was when I weighed in yesterday! The fact that it was still down was a nice surprise. However, I would like to have a sharper drop this week ;) and to achieve that I really need to focus on eating 100% for the rest of the week.

Today I have to write an article or two, ho hum... probably after I've had my shower :) I've been lazing around this morning in PJs. School holidays are a slack time for the kids AND me. I'll also have to drive to the post office to see if my pinhole glasses have come in (fingers crossed!). I want to try them for computer work rather than either a) not being able to see properly or b) wearing glasses.

Blech... the house smells like burnt chocolate (don't ask). Well, the kids were melting down their easter eggs and are trying to make a lindt bunny out of regular chocolate. They put the choc in the microwave. I tell them: chocolate should be melted slowly, at low temperatures. Their ears were turned off (cause of course, what would mum know??) and they burned it. Ick...

Hmm well I finally received an invitation to my high school reunion. It arrived at the correct address, and I assume they have it now only because I enrolled my son there for next year so now they know where I live!

YAY! We've had 17mm of rain today :) not so nice to go out in... but soooo good for the garden as well as all the reservoirs etc. It's looking like this year could be quite good for rain (reaching at least average... something it hasn't done in about 10 years...)

Day 56

As anticipated the weekend was a dead loss. As a result, my weight loss for the week was 100g. But to be honest, I'm okay with that. I probably wouldn't be okay if my weight had gone UP, but it didn't, despite eating three days of crap. I actually still have a couple of easter eggs left (good quality chocolate, not crap... I don't bother with crap now...) which I'll eat this week. Apart from that, this morning I went back to having my normal healthy smoothie. I certainly don't feel as well now as I should, and it is mostly a result of eating rubbish on the weekend. I also didn't sleep well, which never helps!

As I've said before, the most important thing is to get back on the wagon, and start eating supportively again. If I do that, my weight loss will continue and my health will continue to improve. I really need to get stuck into some hard work this month, so I'm putting the past weekend behind me and going forwards now!

Well I finished my easter chocolate, and apart from that have eaten following my normal diet, which is good! From tomorrow I guess I will go on eating 100% as I was before. So, I had a few days of hiccups, but the important thing is to be able to resume eating properly. Exercise has been poor (today I was tired and lazy lol so nothing doing there). If the weather is fine tomorrow I'll take the kids ouside for a walk (to the lake or something). At least that will get us all moving! I am hoping that at the start of next week I'll see more weight loss. AND as next week the kids will be back at school, I can get back into my regular routine.

First week back I need to get the house sorted out again. It's become quite messy over the past few days. I also need to re-commit to decluttering/tidying kids' rooms etc. Even if it's just 15 minutes a day. I will create a weekly schedule too, so I can fit all my commitments in, in such a way that I'm doing decent sized blocks of stuff rather than half an hour here, one hour there. I also NEED to get more paid work, so I have to start bidding on more jobs on Elance to see if I can get a bit more regular work.

I must say, my belly is feeling very bloated today. Ick. I can't wait until it's gone down!! Yes, I still have many kilos to go ;) I do know I'm better than I used to be. My jeans are testament to that, because they're quite loosish around my waist now, and yet just weeks ago I wouldn't have been able to do them up! So yes, the belly has gone DOWN. But being realistic, it's still too big! Maybe it's also feeling big cause I had a big smoothie lol. At least it's been filled up with good nutrition! On the downside I did eat a couple of bits of potato and a vegie schnitzel. I really need to stop with the cooked stuff for the rest of the month. My body honestly doesn't need it, and it would help zoom my weight loss I think! It's less than a month to the first of May now (GAH) and I really, really wanted to be a lot lighter by then!

Mind you, just realised I haven't even received an invitation to the old High School Reunion yet... wonder if it turned up at my parents' house and they forgot to tell me?? I'll have to ask the others if they have invites or not.

Day 53

Well it's Good Friday and thus begins the Easter weekend. I do hope I don't get any more chocolate!! I probably won't be able to update the blog tomorrow, but I should be back Sunday night (I hope) so will update then if I remember.

Day 52

Well, it's the 1st of April and this month I was supposed to be 100% raw... so what did I do? I bought some vegan schnitzels... the idea being that if I really, really craved something I could have one. Hmm... and I wasn't even ubercraving but I had one anyway!

Ahh well... I didn't have lunch today so I needed the extra nutrition ;) well I can TELL myself that! I could need extra nutrition in the form of fruits and vegies too that are raw, but no I had to have the cooked thingy!

Well Easter will be interesting. Already I have been given Easter eggs by my parents (not crappy ones either... but yummy Lindt ones) and while they don't have meat, they have milk. I don't know how high my standards should be in this situation? I mean, if there was meat it would be a definite NO... Just NO... but milk is more ho hum... I think in a general way I would have no milk, but the occasional chocolate? Hmm... I will think on that! Cows are exploited for their milk, and they have their babies taken off them (which are often slaughtered) but the milk itself isn't an animal.

Day 52

Yesterday I did really well except for the alcohol I consumed (Midori and Coke... so yum... so bad!) Fortunately, I am out of Coke so no more alcohol!

Yesterday was the first day I ate nothing cooked (cause I was completely out of vegie burgers). And I did okay! I had a lunchtime smoothie with frozen summer fruits and some green powder and stevia. It was... drinkable... but probably not really naturally sweet enough. Maybe a banana would help? Or some dates?? Just something a little sweeter in it. I find Stevia makes it taste a little odd, even though it's sweet. However, better than sugar!

Hmm... I made the kids cheesy pasta for tea and YUM it looked and smelled so good! ARGH. I usually do pretty well not eating food that I shouldn't, and resisting temptation, but there are times it's still hard! Still I just had my green smoothie and I'm not suffering any ill effects from resisting temptation! And tonight I will have no alcohol, so it will be pretty much a completely raw day. Ooooh! (Well except for my non-raw protein powder lol).

Hmm well here is an issue. I have a savoury craving. I think this was generally satisfied each night by having a vegie burger or sausage or something, but now I haven't had it I'm craving it! Humm hopefully the craving goes soon! It's not like I'm craving junk or anything, although I COULD start craving it if the itch isn't scratched, so to speak! It is times like these when budding raw food eaters like to have dehydrators, cause you can make dehydrated breads and suchlike! Even raw pizza! Mmmm that'd be yummy lol. I have no idea what I can have as a substitute? Or do I just ignore it this evening? Honestly, I would cook a vegie burger and eat it now if I could :)

Hmm I need to make some $$$ so I can buy myself a dehydrator and make some raw savoury food, so I'm not tempted into eating non-raw stuff, even if it is vegan. I am not sure how I can go an entire month eating the way I am eating now, if I keep feeling this way! It is easy peasy with the vegie burger for dinner (along with my green smoothie), but without it's MUCH harder. Normally I don't have any cravings at all by this time of evening. Sort of annoying really!

Day 51

Well, over half way to 100 days. It's funny that 100 days sounds like ages, but in reality it's only just over three months! It seems that one should be able to accomplish sooo much in 100 days, doesn't it? And yet, three months doesn't sound all that long.

Well, I went to my sister's house to wash the cars (which we did) and go for a walk (which we didn't do). Nope, the kids were watching a DVD so after cleaning the cars we finished watching the DVD and then decided we were feeling tired and lazy and went home. BAD ME!

I have really got to go to bed earlier than I currently am, because it's just draining my energy. I also have to be a little bit careful with my food, because I am concerned that I'm not getting enough energy. Although, there are people who believe you can live just fine without food! Yesterday I noticed by afternoon that I was feeling rather drained and listless and hungry. However, after eating I didn't feel too bad (of course I had a big green smoothie, which always helps). Now, I am out of all cooked vegan food (ie burgers, sausages etc.) in preparation for going all raw in April. Hopefully, I will be getting enough energy from the food I eat to counteract any negative effects!

I am getting quite annoyed with my sore arm (the one I hurt falling off my bike). It's been almost a week and it's still quite sore. I think it's bad now because when I bend it, it pulls on the scab which is quite ouchies. I also find it difficult sleeping! I am hoping it heals soon. It's not just the skin damage, it's also the internal bruising I think, which makes it hurt when I'm just using the arm generally.

Now, I am feeling a bit sleepy again. I REALLY need to get to bed at 10:30 or so rather than midnight. I will make it my goal for tonight to be in bed at 10:30 and we'll see if I feel better and more rested tomorrow! A lot of people who go raw say you need less sleep, but I haven't noticed it too much so far! Now, I will go play a memory game with my daughter and probably have a bit of a rest/read (cause it's holidays after all!) I would really like to clean my office a bit, because the mess is really pissing me off... but right now I don't have the motivation or energy.

I bought some frozen summer fruits because I thought I should try and have a lunch time smoothie as well, for extra energy. I will just try for a small drink (not the three glasses or so that my smoothies usually are).  I am sure it is better to have completely raw, fresh fruit, but I know, blueberries for one are much less expensive when purchased raw than fresh. I think it's definitely better to have frozen than cooked things, but it's still not what I'd class as 100% ideal. I really need to get my finances in order so I can actually afford to buy more fresh stuff and have less frozen!

On a funny/annoying note. A couple of days ago I was reading about natural vision improvement, and ordered myself some pinhole glasses, and contemplated purchasing a course with exercises. Anyway, today I had taken my glasses off and was cleaning them when they broke! So now, I have no glasses! I wonder if this is the Law of Attraction in operation again ;) I didn't want glasses so... they broke! Hehe the problem is, of course, that I need to fix my vision BEFORE I can quit the specs!

Day 50!

Well it's half way to 100 days! Not that I ever planned for 100 days, but it's interesting to see what I can achieve in that length of time.

I managed to lose 1.2kg last week WOO HOO! Especially considering I only went riding three times and didn't do any EPOC. Weight loss is weird ;) May have been helped by the fact that I really didn't eat much last night though. Therefore I had a rather empty belly when I weighed myself.

Now, as it's school holidays, I imagine that exercise won't go as well as I'd like it to. Today is a sort of wet day. Not raining at the moment, but it has rained, and everything is rather damp. I have to do a bit of shopping *sigh* which is so much fun with kids (NOT!). Ahh well... and I told Kate she could spend some of her birthday money on headphones, so I'll have to take her somewhere she can buy some. I have to work out how much money she has left to spend. It's difficult to keep track!

Well, it's almost half past ten and I am sitting down with an alcoholic beverage (BAD ME) lol. I am contemplating the mess that is my office, and thinking that tomorrow it will be a good time to clean it! I am also going to my sister's house tomorrow for both a walk and a car wash. She wants to wash her car with the high pressure cleaner I've got, so I'm going to bring it to her house and I'll wash my car too! I also promised my youngest son that I'll play the Wii with him (unfortunately, he never wants to play Guitar Hero with me :( I rock at Guitar Hero... I am less talented at the other games he plays that I generally don't!) THEN I shall have a good go at cleanign this office. I simply can't function effectively in it as it is at the moment. I also need to clean out the froggy tank a bit... it needs fresh water and has some icky mouldy bits (I think they're bits that have fallen out of the cricket container).

I have also received a Feng Shui course, which I want to start learning (I have SOO much to do and so little time!!), however I think it could be beneficial if I can start sorting out the house and working on getting the flow of energy etc. right. which hopefully will help in other areas of my life that are stagnant too! Hmm I have learned that the position of my bed is wrong :( I think the problem is actually the DOOR which I can't move! That sucks ;) I wonder if there is a way around it? There really isn't another alternative for my bed in my room!

Hmm I have also learned that my desk faces the wrong way. I think it is maybe possible to move it... but a real PITA to do so (it's a big desk and the office isn't that large...I'd also have to move the pin board on the wall to move my bookcase over to it). However, easier to do that than move my bed! I will check the bed... but I think it's definitely the wrong way!

Day 49

Yup, I missed a day! Yesterday was pretty busy... had basketball in the morning, then had to go shopping, then had to tidy house, then had party for youngest child, then went out to tea etc. and ended up home at about 11.

The good thing was, we went to Pizza Hut and I didn't order any food (just a drink). I didn't even crave it that much. I mean, there was some desire for the food... but not enough to actually break down and eat it. Instead I had a biiig green smoothie before I went out (which made me very full) so I had less desire to eat. All in all, quite successful.

The other "bad" thing I had was an alcoholic drink on Friday night, as well as a few potato smiles (hehe). Not too many of those though. Again, I'm not beating myself up about it.

Today have to take the boys shopping for a present, and then taking them to a party for this afternoon. I will also have to drive my husband home later this evening which is errm... quite the fun journey (also means I need to charge my iPod). These things do sometimes make it harder to eat right! Hmm also looks like I need to get to the pet store to buy more crickets.

Hmm and the weather isn't looking good for the day.. there seems to be rain in the air. Rain is good and necessary, of course, but doesn't make for pleasant outdoor times lol.

Day 47

Well it's the last day of first term (WOW that went so fast!) and kids will be finishing school early today, so I should make the most of the time I've got to clean house etc. I should be going for a ride soon (NO falling off today!) which will be good exercise, because I won't be getting so many rides over the holidays (well, I may get the kids out a couple of times, but I doubt I'll be riding as hard as usual!) Still, I've planned to do some regular walking with my sister, which will also be good for the kids! I will probably also take the kids swimming as I have several family passes to the pool (as a result of renovations this week meaning the kids haven't got swimming lessons today).

I'll also be getting more into raw food eating once April starts (which WILL be interesting given that it's holiday time). However, I can't let holidays get in the way of my ongoing weight loss or commitment to health. Holiday time has been a challenge in the past, but I think I am over the challenge. I haven't had too many problems at all eating the way I am even with people around me eating other stuff. Maybe I have finally broken some of my food addictions ;)

Well been for a nice long ride, which was good. I am a bit annoyed as I seem to have a mildly infected fingernail (so I'll go put some tea tree oil and a bandaid on it) cause it's hurting when I type. I want to get two articles written today, AND I want to get a bit of housework done. Will have to get stuck into more housework tomorrow, too. That way it should be relatively tidy for the party.

Day 46

Well, today something funny/painful happened... I fell off my bike! It was silly... there's a gate across one of the roads I ride on (the road was blocked off when the bypass was put through, and now only emergency vehicles can go through, to get to the forest if needed). Anyway, my friend had opened the gate on her way to my place, and I was riding along debating whether I try and ride through the open gate or walk through. Now, when I say it was open, it wasn't open far... and it was open towards me, so I sort of had to turn fairly sharply to get through. Anyway, it didn't work! I rode through, and my handblebar clipped the gate latch and down I went! Lucky I was wearing sleeves though, or my arm would look a LOT worse.

The bad thing was though, I sort of went into shock as a result of the fall. Why??? I don't know! It hurt but it wasn't THAT bad. I was able to get straight back up and onto the bike, but before I'd ridden another 100m I had to get off and sit down. Fortunately we were close to my friend's house, so she was able to go and get some lollies. After a snake I felt better. We kept riding, not really, really far... but still, there's all the hills. I was okay until I got back home, when I felt faint again and had to lie down for about ten minutes.

Now I'm all patched up and feeling mostly okay! The pain seems to have gone from my arm (I put some topical anaesthetic on though which may have helped). My hand aches a wee bit, but I guess I jarred it going down. Well, at least I didn't hurt my foot, so I'm not limping lol. I am very much over limping!

So, apart from eating a couple of lollies today my diet is going okay! I must excuse myself for that though, because at the time I needed them, and even though I know sugar is very bad, sometimes it's helpful!

I was planning on doing some solid bathroom cleaning today, but I have this raw patch on my hand that's got a bandaid on it, so I really don't want to be scrubbing stuff with harsh cleaners while I've got a patch of no skin on my hand! Eeep! However, I can focus on general tidying, which really needs to get done. Wow this has been such a lazy week for me! I actually feel a wee bit guilty because I do need to focus more on work and earning an income.

Hmm well it's night again, and today was uber unproductive, I didn't even get any articles written! AND I wanted to do two :( GRRR... I'm not very happy with my lazy self this week. And as the next two weeks are holidays for the kids, I know they won't be majorly productive for moi. Hmm well I could get started on my writing course I suppose, and focus on my novel a bit. I still have SOME time to me so it's not like all is lost! I just need to kick myself in the bum and get moving!

Day 45

Well, yeah, I've been slack this week, but yesterday I did eat pretty well, so I can't get down on myself for that. Although, I probably could stand to remember lunch more often! I do sometimes forget to eat lunch at all, and if I'm snackish just eat a couple of dates. Of course, people think more of calorie consumption than they should. One of the proven ways of extending life in the animal kingdom is calorie restriction, so having a "high metabolism" and being able to burn off lots of food isn't always the way to go!

I also didn't get to bed early last night, as I was too busy "discussing" stuff with my husband online (for that you may as well read arguing). In the end I didn't get the laundry or dishes done until late, which kept me up. It was still a little earlier than it has been, but definitely not early enough. On the upside, I do tend to fall asleep quite easily lately, and I'm not feeling too tired now. I am preparing to go out for my ride, because I can't keep missing it! I also need to write at least one article today. I will also do some more focus on my novel, and try and get a little housework done. I have borrowed my sister's steam cleaner for the floors, so I want to get them clean. The laundry is also bothering me, so I need to get stuck into it a bit. I need to clean my daughter's room too, cause her birthday party is Saturday. At least if it is relatively tidy I will be happy with it. I need to get her to get stuck into it a bit, and I want the boys' room tidy too.

One thing I'm not happy with this past term (yeah, as a mum I still think in "terms" haha) is that I didn't get the house sorted out or tidied to the standard I wanted. I didn't expect perfection yet, but I did want to be further along the journey. However, I stalled along the way. No, I don't like housework, but I don't like it even more when I'm living in a messy, untidy environment. It is a goal this year to get that sorted out once and for all. It's not the only thing I have to sort out, but it is sort of major ;)

My writing is probably the MOST major, just because it's my career and I need to earn an income ;) Of course, there's also my weight and health which is major as it impinges on a great deal of my life and affects how much and what I can do. It also affects my self esteem negatively, which makes it hard for me to participate in social things as I am often very self conscious about my size. I want to feel comfortable in my own skin!

Well, I took my "after" pictures to compare them to my "before" pictures. Quite honestly, while I see a bit of difference, I don't see a lot. Side on there's the most difference, because my tummy doesn't stick out as far and I just look narrower that way. The front on pic the biggest difference I can see is that my double chin has shrunk (YAY for that). Still, I don't look like I'd win a competition from the changes thus far ;) Nevertheless, I'm still happy with what's occurred. I will try and take a picture every six weeks or so and compare it to the last. I am wearing the same clothes too, so I will try and do that (they're not that revealing though... if I'd worn something tighter the change may have been more obvious). Well, looking at myself it's clear I'm still very much an overweight person. Of course, that's to be expected as I'm still 68kg and thus still obese (although very close to being just overweight and not obese). I need to get down to 56kg to be in the healthy weight category, and ideally lower than that (for me healthy weight is between 45kg and 56kg... so that's why I'm aiming for 50kg which is somewhere in the middle. From 50kg I can decide whether or not I need to lose more.

Anyway, I am not losing heart as I once may have done. Even though I doubt I'll be where I want to be by May 1st, I know I will lose the weight, because for 6 weeks I have been losing weight steadily. I have rarely, in that time, pigged out or ate badly. Even when I did eat junk food, for whatever reason, I was very moderate. Then, I went back to eating properly. I have been even better since going vegan, and I haven't eaten meat once since that time. I did eat some things that were vegetarian rather than vegan, but that wasn't much. Okay, the weight hasn't "fallen" off me as I hoped it would. But that's okay! It's going, and that's what counts!! After all, losing 500g to 1kg a week is a good rate. Even if I only manage 500g a week for the rest of the year, I'll still have lost about 17kg by the start of summer (December 1st), which will get me very close to my initial goal of 50kg. And hell, if I'm 51kg by summer I'll be feeling GOOD! Yeah, I won't be perfection, yeah, I'll have a way to go, but still for me that will be FANTASTIC as I haven't spent a summer at that weight in years and years. In fact, I can't remember the last summer I was that weight... probably the summer of 1994/1995 when I started going out with my husband. Well, I would have been 48kg or so then, BUT I put on something like 13kg that year! And even when I lost weight after having my third child, I still would have weighed more than 51kg that summer (and even then I was feeling pretty good). And 51kg compared to the 74kg I was last summer is FANTASTIC!

I still intend to put 200% effort in this April in the hopes that I can shed a good amount of weight, and at least not be quite so fat by my high school reunion, but I won't beat myself up about not getting to "healthy" weight. If I can get as low as 60kg I'll be absolutely rapt. I am hoping that with extra exercise and 100% raw food the weight will fall off a little faster. After April, I will probably not worry about speed as much as consistency.

This is the FIRST TIME ever I have been able to consistently lose weight for any length of time like this. Yes, I have lost weight before and gained it, but not as well as this. And that's the thing, when I was younger and not particularly overweight, I used to crash diet, but I never needed to do it for more than a couple of weeks, so I was always in the mentality of losing weight FAST and then going back to normal. Well, that's just not a reality for me anymore (and there is no more going back to "normal", there is just the new normal, which is eating properly). You can't lose an extra 24kg in a few weeks. It takes a long time and sustained effort.

So, how do I feel overall? Well pretty good. I did set my hopes higher than what I've achieved, but the fact that for the first time I've stuck with something... well that's great and I am very, very proud of myself for that!

Now, I just have to sort out my other crap and things will be even better ;) Most crucially I need to get my finances in order, and hopefully do so without having to get a JOB! I have nothing against working per se, I just don't want to work for anyone else in that sort of capacity again. At least, not if I can help it ;) I'll take a part time job I can do during the school day if I really need to, of course. But I'd rather work on my freelancing and my novel. Once I get a novel accepted, and hopefully an advance, I'll just stick at that!

Yes, have to be positive and say it that way! No room for negativity ;) Of course it could take me awhile. However, I have high hopes for my new novel, and if I put the right sort of effort and committment into it that it needs, it should be a good book!

Day 44

Hmm I feel as if this is going to be a fairly slack and lazy week, which is sort of bad as it's the last week of term for the kids, and after this we've got two weeks of holidays! I didn't end up going riding yesterday, because I had to post a large letter (which I couldn't shove in my bag to go riding) and I needed to go shopping AND come home in time to bake a cake and tidy up a little before my mum arrived.

Sooo... I need to go for a nice ride today to make up for it :) Sadly the weather isn't quite as nice (it's only 12 degrees and overcast), but errm at least I won't overheat! I also need to get stuck heavily into HOUSEWORK to get this house spotless by Saturday! Eeep! So, although I feel like being lazy, I can't be TOO lazy because nothing will get done. Maybe I will just be a BIT lazy...hehe do like a couple of hours cleaning a day, and maybe a little bit of work towards the old novel or something. I should also be looking for more paid work, but I don't really want to straight before the holidays, because I could find it a struggle to et the work done.

Hmm... well due to a few late nights, I was tired today so didn't go for a ride. That's the second day in a row I've had no exercise. Quite honestly I feel rather crap right now (although that could be cause I just had a sleep...)

Oh, and I also ATE badly last night. I had chips and potato and gravy (from KFC) as well as a bottle of Pepsi Max AND I ate a small slice of (non vegan) birthday cake. This can't be good for a person who usually eats well ;) Hmm and that's after Saturday where I also ate badly. I must go to bed EARLY tonight, although because I've had a nap today, who knows how I'll sleep?? I shouldn't be treating this entire week as a dead loss... that is just stupid. I still have a lot of housework etc. to get done. AND I do have some articles to write (just one or two). BUT I need a solid night's sleep. I need to be in bed by 10:30 not midnight or later. (I will not mention how I got to bed at midnight last night and got up at 5am to kill a monster in Castle Age lol).