Weigh in Wednesday

I want to do a happy little dance for turning things around!


A major goal for me was cracking into the 60's.  I had worked hard to lose weight a few years ago, and managed to get down to 71kg but couldn't get the scales to shift afer that - probably because I lost motivation and decided that I was happy with being that size.  Well, then I inevitably regained, and this time was aiming to actually make it to my ultimate goal.


I cracked into the 60's during round one, which was my goal for the round, in about week 9.  Then I stupidly decided "great, that's it for me!" - an internal excuse that I was not expecting! - and stopped to wait for round 2.  At least, that's what I told myself.  I then managed to go up and down a few times, broke into the 60's, then left again, for weeks on end.


This week, I decided to turn things around and have a new beginning. I'm thrilled to say my weekly weigh in had me cracking those 60's again - this time for good!

Wow, you can really tell when I lost the plot and ate everything in sight...

I've also recently developed a bit more body confidence.  My stomach has always been my least favourite part, and I never like to wear tight-fitting shirts because I hate drawing attention to it.  Lately I've discovered the joys of leggings and t-shirt dresses - so comfortable, and I can even get away with it for work!  So I bought myself some of these bad boys from Black Milk Clothing (obviously these ones are probably not for work...)

Now I am by now means as svelte as these beautiful models, but they're pretty amazing leggings all the same.

Back on track!

Phew!  I have managed to get through 48 hours without cracking and gorging myself on chocolate.  I went to my gym orientation session, and was actually pretty impressed with how far I've come - it was one of those "learn to use the equipment" sessions in a group of women.  I was pretty proud of myself because I already knew how to use them, and I volunteered to demonstrate a few times.  In fact, it was almost annoying because there was only one other person (in a group of 7!) who volunteered to "be a model" - the rest all clustered in the back and muttered things like "oh I'm only here to do Body Balance..." or "I came for orientation, I didn't know we'd have to do some exercise..."  


I don't start work until 1pm today, but work up earlier so I'd have time to fit in a session and still cook myself a decent breakfast - since I'm going to be working until around midnight and it's been a long time since I've done ED.  I psyched myself up and actually did some weights, so now I'm feeling smug and pretty pleased with myself.

I'm pretty chuffed with that effort - and with my shiny new HRM!

Delicious high protein breakfast - mine was not as well presented though!

I'm feeling pretty good about how things are going with getting back on track.  Now just hoping I can stay away from the snacks during my shift this evening - and that it isn't too crazy!

New week, new start!

This week is all about new starts for me.  I haven't had the best beginning to 12WBT, but it's time for me to shake things up.  I'm starting in Emergency this week, which means the return to dreaded shift work - but on the upside, at least now I can go to the gym during the day when it isn't as busy!


I'm going to repeat my measurements and fitness test as part of the "mini-milestone" week, but it's really going to be the baseline for my 8 week body transformation.

Not exactly stellar progress so far... but you just wait to see what it looks like in 8 weeks time!

I have today off work (yay!) so I have an easy-going day planned.  Going to lounge about in my pyjamas planning my meals, cooking healthy lunches, and then I have my Ignition orientation session at my new gym booked for 5pm.  I'm excited to learn about all the features - particularly because I noticed that the cardio equipment has a USB port - perhaps I can watch all my tv shows that I've missed?

I can go from this...

... to this!  

I even have my brand new HRM, ready to go.  It matches my gym clothes (which makes me happy), I've updated my settings, and I'm good to go.  It just needs a name...

My precioussssssss...

I'm going to go enjoy my delicious breakfast, do some laundry and countdown until my new gym opens.  Hello positive attitude...

Exhausted

To be completely honest - round 2 has been a struggle.


I'm completely exhausted, my job has been crazy and when I'm home I just can't face the idea of doing anything except sitting on the couch or sleeping.

I feel like this pretty much all the time...

I have shiny new gym clothes and a shiny new heart rate monitor, but even that hasn't managed to persuade me to get up and do something.  I start in Emergency on Tuesday, and my new gym opens on Monday.  I've been using that as an excuse to not do anything this week... and unfortunately I've also been too busy to eat at work.  So when I do eat, it definitely isn't the beautiful-but-time-consuming meals laid out in the 12WBT meal plan.  It's more along the lines of sugary fatty badness...

Damn those Reese's peanut butter cups...

So I'm accepting that I've had some obstacles.  I'm telling myself that a setback is not a failure, and that I shouldn't just throw the towel in and give up.  One of my favourite sayings is "if you get a flat tyre, you wouldn't just slash all the others and give up - so why do that with your diet and exercise?"

I'm going to sit down on the weekend and do some organising and diarising.  I'm going to work some timing adjustments into the meal plan so I can fit it around my shifts, and I'm going to plan out my gym sessions.  It's not too late for me to turn things around and drop these last few kilos before the wedding.  And beating myself up doesn't burn calories like a boxing class would!

Blogger Challenge - week 2

I almost forgot to participate in the blogger challenge - I've been faffing about all week, not really accomplishing anything, so this week is about refocusing.  What better way than to evaluate my reasons?  Courtesy of Jayne - http://www.jayne12wbt.blogspot.com.au/


Tell me or show me! When and where do you workout? Are you doing anything different this round? Or is it your first time exercising? Is there anything that you'd like to do? but not yet done?


When do I work out?  Well, in my imagination I wake up and flit about my house putting all my designer gym clothes and admiring my svelte body before heading to the gym so I can run gazelle-like and serene at 5am every day.


In reality, I'm a bit hit and miss!  I've been attempting the early morning workouts because I tend to finish work unpredictably late, but there's only been some limited successes so far.  I work out at my local gym, because I'm not a fan of road running and I think if I went with the home exercises I wouldn't really do anything at all!  I quite like going to the gym, it promotes a good mindset - you're there to get the job done, not for anything else, so get on with it!  But my current gym isn't that well-suited to me.  It offers a lot of Body Attack classes, which I don't like, and not many other cardio classes.  The women's workout area is pretty sparse, and the shared area is dominated by pushy men doing supersets and using about 6 machines at once - god forbid you gently move their towel to use the seated row, it's the end of the world!


My new gym opens next week, which I am very excited about.  I'll also have to overhaul my timetable given that I'll be on shift work for the next month and a half.  


This isn't my first time exercising - I've been a member of a gym for about 6 years, and I've tended to average out to just one session a week.  There are times when I go 4-5 times a week and am really motivated, but there's also been periods like 2010 when I didn't go for 6 whole months!


Things I'd like to do are pretty simple
- run 5k without stopping
- do a push-up on my toes
- learn to swim properly 

Banana bruschetta and a week of red flags

I'm normally dubious of cottage cheese, but tried the banana bruschetta again this morning - so much more delicious than I remembered!  Definitely a winner!


This week is full of red flags for me - it's end-of-term so I'm going out to dinner tonight and drinks on Friday.  I'm also going to a pharmaceutical company presentation with dinner on Wednesday - though it's on treatment of Acute Coronary Syndromes, so I'm hoping the food won't be too unhealthy (seems a bit ironic if it is!).


Next week is a bit daunting - my new gym opens, and I'm excited to check it out.

Already seems more fun than my current gym!

But unfortunately next week marks the end of my regular working hours job, and I'm going back to Emergency for 5 weeks.  Shift work is a tricky beast.  If the hours are regular and predictable, it's not so bad.  But this roster is all over the place, and doesn't make much sense.  Last time around I struggled, I made it to the gym once in the entire 10 weeks, and I discovered the 24 hour McDonalds near my house.  Bad move.  The 4am Big Mac is my downfall, so this time I'm going to be making a marked effort to organise and diarise to avoid any pitfalls.


The added bonus is that by being on shift work, I'll have some random days off to go and try out all the classes my new gym has to offer.  Cheerleading?  Why not!  Burlesque?  Hip hop?  Boxing?  These are all such novelties, I hope they can break me out of the Pump/RPM rut....

Oh my gosh, it's week 2 already!

Having a long weekend at the end of the first week of a weight loss program may not have been the best timing.  I fell off the wagon with a thud, and proceeded to eat - turkish food, Grill'd, Arnott's biscuits - you name it, I've probably eaten it this weekend.


So, after spending yesterday feeling a bit shellshocked, and this morning seeing a somewhat depressing 300g weight loss (on top of my 100g from last week - at least it's better than a gain, but still disappointing), I'm back on track.  I've got my lunch packed for today, the chicken is defrosting for tonight's dinner - no cheating and ordering pizza, even if it is Origin night! - and my gym clothes have been set aside.


The early morning wake-ups are again my challenge.  Why must it be cold outside, and so toasty and nice in bed??


On another note, I have finally started making some progress on wedding planning.  Reception payments have been made, I've booked the photobooth, and now I need to get my salary packaging reimbursed so I can pay for some of the honeymoon.  Hooray!