Don't take the box with you

I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this but I would have thought I had realised the dangers and would stop testing myself this way. My worst time of day - food wise has always been late afternoon, as with so many of us out there. I was doing pretty well and recognising this, always make sure I have a planned afternoon snack. Usually a cup of coffee and a couple of Paradise Light biccies. Then when I'm preparing tea I have a glass of wine and a few almonds or cashew nuts. I have actually amazed myself that I can take a "few" put the lid on and walk away. That's pretty major for a picker like me. Sometimes instead of the nuts I have a small bowl of rice or corn crackers instead. There are so many yummy varieties out there but my absolute favourite is the Apero, Honey & Dijon Mustard. Earlier in the week instead of filling my usual little bowl I grabbed the new box, a glass of wine and my book and settled down for a good read and a small snack. Haha - 20 minutes later and the whole box was gone- DH & DS3 did take a few but it was me that had the majority of them. Every time I would seal the box I left it sitting beside me so of course I just kept eating. Oh and did I mention that before I took the box I also had TWO of my normal portions of nuts!!! I am glad that my binges are on "low fat" treats (nuts are good fat so that must put them in the low fat category!) but boy it shows me how easily I could break out. I have been frustrated that I am see sawing between 65 and 66 kilo's and just can't shift that last couple to get down to 63 but it's easy to see now that I am being honest that all those little extra's do add up. If I am serious about getting there I know I have to address this and really make an effort to stop nibbling. This week I went back to my lowest of 65.6 but really this means I have only lost 0.3 in total this month and I've lost that 4 times!!! February is going to see me crack this - watch me - kick me if I don't please! LOL

We did survive the heat, unlike some of the poor families that were without power for 24 hours, that would be awful. We had a fantastic day at the beach last Saturday. It was so hot but we had a ball and the water was just beautiful. When DS2 was younger he & I used to snorkel a lot but now he's 17 he doesn't want to come to the beach anymore. DS3 has snorkeled a lot off the beach but Saturday was the first time he and I went to the end of the jetty and snorkeled. It was awesome and we both loved it - one of those special memories - why can't they stay 11 for ever???!!! Poor DH though, near the end of the day we were having a walk along the beach when DS3 challenged him to a race. DS3 won the first but DH wanted another shot - not a good move!! He really pushed, he really wanted to win but his hamstring didn't co-operate and went on him. He won't be doing that again. It's still playing up 5 days later.

I hope you are all enjoying your Australia Day holiday. We are hot here again with 39 but it will be cooler tomorrow. I had promised DS3 that we would have fish and chips on the beach today. We used to do that a lot but of course deep fried fish and chips is not something I like on the menu these days. Anyhow I made the decision that we could all have them and I would have to be an exercise demon to make up for it. I have ridden my bike 2 x 45 minutes, done 1 hour of beach walking and 40 mins walk after tea. This has meant a total today of over 23,000 steps - wow. It's amazing really how some days the exercise is easy, today was one of those days and so I don't feel as guilty about the fish and chips which really weren't worth it anyhow!!! DS3 enjoyed it though and that's what it was for.

Now it's off to bed and hopefully I won't suffer tomorrow from the exercise today.