grr

Well this week has started off very badly! Not being very TF friendly at all! Here is the damage:

2 potatoes- they were so good but soooooooo bad!

An extra protein serve- I was starving & had nothing else so I had a double protein serve with dinner to keep me away from the bread!

1 WHOLE, yes whole, tub of ice-cream (it was the low fat TF friendly one, only friendly when you dont eat the whole thing!!! never getting that again- I cant be trusted!)

Tonight we are going out to a mexican place for dinner to celebrate my husband passing his assessments this week. He's really looking forward to it and I dont want to be a wet blanket & have nothing so im thinking 1 vegie taco with black beans will be okay. Its probably the healthiest option they have there. Ill have my protein meal at lunch so dinner will be the carb meal instead of a shake.

Im back at work tomorrow for a few days so hopefully that will keep me sane and stick to this. I always find it hard to follow any diet when im not at work, yet the thought of working more makes me wanna kill myself :P

I know this is just a bad few days, I will be back on the TF wagon tomorrow. Im prepared for not losing any weight this week, I just hope I can exercise enough to make sure its not a gain!

weight in 1

First weigh-in today! Hubby lost 1.6kg and I lost 2.4kg, giving me a higher weightloss % so far! Yay im winning! I also lost 4cm from my waist when the chemist lady measured me so thats great!

The first week hasnt been too bad. I worked long hours the first 5 days on the program which made the program very very easy to follow. My first day off when I was home alone & bored was alot harder. Im a boredom eater and I found those days very hard not to drive down to maccas for fries! But instead I just made some grilled vegies and snacked on those instead. I havent done much exercise-wise this week, I did 30mins on the WII and then yesturday I walked/runned around the dog park with Lucy for about 30mins doing 5 push-ups on the doggy tunnels each lap, so I managed about 100 push-ups yesturday in total and my arms are killing me today!

The only negative side effect ive experienced was the day after having the asian curry vegie soup. I had very bad *ahem*...gas for the whole day afterwards, which sucks because the asian curry & vegie soup is probably my favourite! Ah well, will just have to stick to mushroom & vegie instead. I still have 1 frozen meal of the asian curry soup so maybe next week when I know ill be home alone the next day I will finish that off!

I didnt really have any plan for the coming week. I did do a food plan for last week but I didnt follow it. Not in terms of eating the wrong things, I still followed the program just not in the order I had planned. So this week I have apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries & manderins to choose from for my fruit serves, espresso & mocha shakes, chocolate & espresso ready-to-go shakes and ive still got a few frozen meals consisting of protein & vegies. I've still got 3 days off from work but we have a flexible rostering system which means when we arent busy sometimes we 'flex-off' a shift- we still get paid for the shift but stay home and we can do this for a total of 24hrs. Then when we get really busy & need more staff we pay back those hours by working an extra shift but not getting paid for it. So when I have a large group of days off like this week, I put my name down to say im available to work an extra shift if they need it and if they do I would go & work back the hours I owe. Its a really good system, and ive made myself available today & tomorrow so I can always get a phonecall sometime today or tomorrow. Thats probably the main reaon I love the TF ready-to-go shakes, I can take one to work if I get called in and there is no excuse to need canteen food!

bored!

Having a pretty chilled out day today. Did some grocery shopping then cooked for most of the morning. I made the TF creamy mushroom & vegie soup except I used the TF asian curry soups instead of mushroom like Andrea did (see links) and am having that for dinner. I also made up a big batch of what I had for dinner last night to freeze some meals for the week. For lunch today I had egg & avocado salad as pictured. Yum!

Dinner!

Been busy the last few days, working heaps and am completely exhausted! Im on 5 days off which is nice. Have 1 more assignment to finish so hoping to get that done this group of days off.

This is what I had for dinner last night, I was tired & hungry and didnt want to cook anything fancy. Its 2 soy sausages, 1 zucchini, 1/2 capsicum, 1 cup baby spinach, mushrooms & 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, all thrown into 1 pan and cooked. I put some TF caeser salad dressing over the top and it was sooooooooooo yum. I will be having this again thats for sure!

So, its day 6 on TF today. Im feeling pretty good so far. I havent had any headaches or constipation. The only negative thing ive experienced so far is abit of bad breath no matter how many times I brush my teeth, but ive been sticking with sugarfree gum and its doing the trick! I was going to just weigh in fortnightly at the chemist but I think I will go in on Wednesday and see how ive gone my first week.

My husband has been exercising alot this week however his diet has been his downfall. So far this week he has had Sizzlers (he had the spare ribs), mexican burritos (not the healthy version either!) and last night he had mcdonalds ice-cream & cookies. Even though he has had some naughty foods in there he has also been pretty healthy this week compared to his usual diet. He works shift work like me and he has take-away probably at least once a day! This week he has been having salad & chicken wraps, fruit and he even cooked up a lean mince & vegie spaghetti bolognese which he got a few meals out of. He NEVER cooks so I was impressed! I reckon he will still lose weight this week just because of the amount of take-away he isnt eating compared to usual, however maybe not as much as he could have. I know it sounds evil that we are competing and I secretely smile inside when he eats junks but I do hope he does well. This is for both of us, we both need to get healthy. Maybe when the challenge is over i'll help him :)

its over!

So, I had a very stressful day today, im doing post-graduate studies in ICU nursing and as part of my course I have an assessment where the nurse educator watches me like a hawk all day and asks me a zillion questions to test my knowledge & skills as an ICU nurse. I have been a wreck the last few days leading up to today and I passed my assessment! Im so happy! Its such a huge weight off my shoulders. I just have 1 more assignment to hand in then im finished (til next year when I start another course!) Ive been so nervous all day during my assessments and as a result I didnt eat any snacks or lunch at work because I felt I wouldve been sick otherwise! Im not worried though, it was just a piece of fruit for morning tea that I will have tonight and a salad at lunch which ill make up with at dinner. I know I need to eat throughout the day but today was an exception I think. This is my dinner from last night- I made a vegie fritatta with eggs, ricotta cheese, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, capsicum and had a side salad with it.

This looks terrible but its the TF mushroom & vegie soup recipe. I made up a double batch & froze the portions for later on in the week when im working crazy shifts. I had a taste test though and it tastes delish, even my husband said it wasnt bad!

I did some exercise on the WII last night, probably wont do any today because I am worn out but will probably do some tomorrow morning before work though.

Goal clothes

A size 10 dress I wore to my cousins wedding years ago. Its so pretty & I felt so pretty in it

These are a pair of size 16 jeans. Its weird though, the jeans I wear now are also a size 16 and from the same shop but I measured the waist of both pairs & this pair is 15cms smaller in the waistband then the ones I wear now. They are a pair of jeans I can fit into sooner rather then later. Sorry for the bad photo quality!

Menu....

So this is the menu ive made up for the coming week! Ive also mentioned what shift im working for any shift workers out there who are interested. Any comments or advice is welcome!

Wed 21st April: Day off

Breakfast: Espresso TF shake

Snack: 1 small banana

Lunch: TF mushroom soup (made with more vegies)

Snack: 1 orange

Dinner: 2 soy sausages with roasted vegies (capsicum, zucchini, cherry tomatoes)

Dessert: TF choclette

Thurs 22nd April: Day shift (7am-3:30pm)

Breakfast: Espresso TF shake

Snack: 1 small banana

Lunch: mixed green salad with grilled mushrooms & TF salad dressing

Snack: TF ready to go chocolate shake

Dinner: vegie fritatta

Dessert: 20 strawberries

Fri 23rd April: Evening shift (2:30PM-11PM)

Breakfast: Espresso TF shake

Snack: 1 orange & 1 banana

Lunch: 2 soy sausages with salad & TF salad dressing

Snack:nil (working)

Dinner: stir-fry vegies

Dessert: TF ready to go chocolate shake

Sat 24th April: Day shift (7am-7pm)

Breakfast: Espresso TF shake

Snack: 1 banana

Lunch: 2 boiled eggs with salad & TF salad dressing

Snack: 1 apple

Dinner: TF soup with added vegies

Sun 25th April: Day shift (7am-7pm)

Breakfast: Espresso TF shake

Snack: 1 banana

Lunch: mixed green salad with grilled mushrooms & TF salad dressing

Snack: TF ready to go chocolate shake

Dinner: 2 soy sausages with roasted vegies

Dessert: TF dessert with 10 strawberries

Mon 26th April: Day off

Breakfast: Espresso TF shake

Snack: 1 orange

Lunch: TF wrap with salad

Snack: TF english toffee shake frozen

Dinner: 2 soy sausages with roasted vegies

Dessert: 20 strawberries

Tues 27th April: Day off

Breakfast: Espresso TF shake

Snack: 1 orange

Lunch: 2 boiled eggs with salad & TF salad dressing

Snack: 1 banana

Dinner: TF soup with extra vegies

YEStatoes!

Well I made up another batch of NOtatoes tonight and they were perfect! I now know not to steam the cauliflower for as long as last time and to add half the ricotta cheese. Yummy!!!!

Been thinking about some goals for this challenge. Obviously I want to win just to prove to my husband I am far more superior :P Ive made some goals and put them on the side ----------> of my blog along with some reward ideas. I'm thinking I will have about 35kg to lose (think im about 100kg and my goal weight is 65kg) so that would be 1.75kg per week but I think I will stick to a goal of 1kg for a total of 20kg in 20 weeks. I think thats more realistic anyway. We are due to finish the challenge by end September-ish which is just in time for spring/summer. Id like to be at my goal weight by December so I can wear something nice at xmas & new years (if im not working that is).

My baby

This is Lucy, she is my baby. Im a big dog lover so get used to me posting pictures of her! I know its not TF related but she is so cute! These are some piccies of her from the day we got her at 8 weeks old to currently 18 months old. She is a pure-bred german shepherd and is the love of my life (apart from hubby hehehe)

What feels like a lifetime ago..

Me when I was skinny, and blonde.

NOtatoes

Made a batch of NOtatoes today. They turned out to be a little bit runny for my liking but thats okay, I know now to use less stock. And I got to use some of the chives i've been growing in my herb garden :)

Im making a list of things to buy when I go shopping next week, I want to make sure I have plenty of snack options around so I will make some vegie dip with vegie sticks to keep in the fridge. Im going to make the fritatta I posted below and also make up a batch of vegie stir-fry and freeze portions so ive always got something TF friendly if I get hungry.

My name is Ticklish and im a coffee-holic!

I went into a TF centre yesturday to get some info on the diet & buy the magazine (which can I say is great!) and the lady said I could buy 2 satchets to try before signing up next week (oh and if anyone is wondering I have to wait til next Wednesday to sign up as money is tight and I cant afford it til pay day!). I bought the espresso shake & the cafe latte shake. I had the espresso shake this morning and heated it in the microwave for 1 minute and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was and how much it felt like a real coffee! I will try the cafe latte shake next Wednesday morning before going to a TF centre to sign up so then I will have tried 2 out of the 3 coffee flavours so I know which ones to have for breakfast!

As per the title of this blog, I am addicted to coffee. I always hated it until the end of 2006. I can remember exactly when my coffee addiction started. It was during my final year at university and during my final exams my friends and I would get to uni at about 6am to study before our exams which would always be at 8am (harsh!!) and thats when I started to drink coffee. A few months later I would be finished uni & started full-time shift work and the rest is history really! Id like to know of a nurse who isnt addicted to coffee! To make matters worse (well, better for me!) my mother-in-law opened up a coffee shop about a year ago......FREE COFFEE!!! Ah, I was in heaven. Alot of my friends are nurses aswell and when we get together to catch-up we always meet at our favourite place...yes you guessed it, a coffee shop :) So i'm thrilled that i've found at least 1 TF coffee shake that is good!

Ive been thinking about how I will be working this diet into my shift work, especially night shift. I usually work a 12hr night shift, 7pm til 7am and get 2 half hour breaks during that shift, the first at about 10pm & the second at about 3am. What I might do for those days is have a shake for breakfast, 2 fruit serves for morning tea, my protein meal at lunch, a light dinner at about 5pm before work (like a salad with cooked mushrooms) then a TF soup or a coffee shake for supper at the 10pm break and thats a days meal plan. For the next day ill have a TF coffee shake at 3am as my breakfast, 2 fruit serves when I get home at 7:30am before going to bed, then a protein lunch when I wake up (usually at about 2pm), a side salad at about 5pm before going to work, and then again a TF soup or shake at work at 10pm for supper. My biggest downfall will be coffee during night shift, but I figure if I have the TF coffee shakes while at work that should help. I guess I will need to start drinking herbal teas :)

recipe idea

I dont know if this will work, but i've thought up a fritatta recipe (well, it has probably been done before but I havent seen it so therefore i've made it up) that I hope is TF friendly and will try & cook next week. I havent officially started TF yet( start on 21 April) and therefore dont have the weightloss book but from what i've read on the website women can have 2 eggs as 1 protein serve and 250gm of low fat ricotta cheese as 1 serve. So my recipe plan is to use 4 protein serves to make 4 meals out of this recipe. Therefore that will be 6 eggs & 250gms of low fat ricotta. Combine those with a whizz stick. Chop up lots of vegies (ill probably use sliced mushrooms, grated zucchini, chopped red onion, shallots, chopped red capsicum, baby spinach and diced tomatoes), add to the egg/cheese mixture and pour into a big flat square baking dish & bake into a vegie fritatta! When its cooked, slice into 4 pieces & hey presto! 4 serves of vegie fritatta with protein. Can always add a side salad to it aswell. Does this sound TF friendly or am I completely going in the wrong direction? I will cook up a batch next week and post some piccies :)

celebrity inspiration

Nicole Sherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls

I think she has a great body and she gets it from being fit & healthy.

hey fatty boomba!

Shield your eyes! Hehehe. This is me, granted this piccie is a year old (ah I miss my blonde hair) but my weight is about the same (think im about 10kg heavier now). Yuk!

So, what has motivated me to join TF? Well my husband (lets call him 'S' ) and I are getting fat. Especially me. So we have decided to do a sort of 'The Biggest Loser' challenge between the 2 of us where we put in $10 a week each for 20 weeks so we will have $400 to spend on a holiday as a reward and whoever has the biggest weight loss % at the end is the winner and gets to decide where to go with the money. Ive decided to do the TF program. S doesnt know what kind of diet he wants to do (doesnt want to do TF) yet. But all I know for certain is ITS ON! Hehehe. He is going down! S tends to lose weight pretty fast when he puts his mind to it but he only has about 15-20kg he needs to lose whereas I need to lose 30-35kg so im hoping the fact I need to lose more will be an advantage and I wont plateau. For exercise S wants to do running but I cant start running from the get-go, I need to ease into it so we will probably be doing seperate exercise routines. I plan to use my Wii as I love the step exercises and we are going to come up with a circuit to do when we take the dog to the doggie park at night- doing laps around the park, push-ups & crunches etc plus im sure the dog (Lucy..she is a german shepherd) will love chasing after us so we will all be getting buff!

In the beginning.....

Welcome to my blog and my weight loss journey as I join forces with TF (aka Tony Ferguson) in a battle of the bulge where there can only be one winner: skinny!

Seriously now, im overweight, unfit and something needs to be done about it. So in light of not wanting to waste my twenties on being fat I am doing the TF diet.

I created this blog as an outlet to share my successes, to have a bitch about weightloss instead of resorting to chocolate and to hopefully inspire others when I reach my goal weight.

There is nothing glam about losing weight and I refuse to sugar-coat it. I will be telling it like it is....... I will be posting photos of my progress and sharing all the nitty gritty details so maybe someone can relate to this or I can relate to others. And if noone ever reads this? Who cares! Its a way for me to keep my hands busy!

So I will be officially starting TF on Wednesday 21st of April ( a week from today) so I wont post any stats til then but I think I weigh about 100kg and my goal weight is 65kg. Im 170cms tall & am 23 years old.

Til next time!