Look at me!

My first post on this little blog was full of sadness. I read it back to myself now and I think, holy moly, I really didn't like the person I had become. I don't think I actually envisaged myself in the position that I'm in now.

The girls on my 12WBT South West Perth Crew facebook page were talking about their achievements through this round and it is astonishing how far we have come in only 12 little weeks.

So I thought in total self-centreness, I would tell you how fabulous I am *snort*

Fitness Achievements:
** I can run. A long way. This past weekend while we were in Perth enjoying a weekend with friends and family, I took a chance to run through my old neighbourhood. I'll take you on my run in another post! Anyway, I can run - over 5kms. And when I finish, I feel exhausted, but those exercise endorphins are amazing! I feel on top of the world! The sense of accomplishment is amazing!

**I am no longer out of breath as I climb stairs. Our hotel on the weekend was great. It even had lifts. But every time I went up to my room, I used the stairs. Even with Miss M in my arms. Sure, I get puffed by the 8th floor, but I don't feel like I'm dying!

**I can complete a whole fitness class. I might need to take a rest after the 25th tricep curl, but I complete it without feeling exhausted.

** I run on the treadmill. The treadmill used to scare me. At 106kg I used to thump on the treadmill thinking it was going to break underneath me. It never did, but boy did I feel like a heffalump! I still have a way to go to look amazingly fit on the old treddie, but I'm getting there!

**I can powerwalk up my bastard of a hill. I could probably even run the thing, but haven't tried. (Might make this a challenge for later this week!)

Weight achievements:
** I've lost 22.6kg. In 17 weeks. Far out.
** I'm no longer obese, but overweight according to my BMI.
** I've dropped 2 dress sizes. I was squeezing out of my Size 18s when I started on January 1. Now I fit comfortably in a size 14! (Clothes shopping on the weekend was so much fun!
** In 12 weeks I've lost 63cm from my body. *blink blink*

Mental achievements:
** I can fight my internal monster when it tells me that I've had enough (and win!)
** I can say no to that yummy piece of cake and not regret it. Now I just have to work out how to do it without offending the baker :(
**I am happier, more confident and definitely not afraid to try new things.

I'll do another post in a few weeks time with my goals for Round 2! There are some doooooozies!

Weigh in Day #11

I was a LOT scared of the scales this morning. I jumped on there last night after a pretty rotten day and nearly died. I'd put on 0.9kg!!! The night before weigh in and I weight 0.9kg heavier than I did last week. Holy crap. I shrugged it off, drank a heap of water and trusted that I'd had a solid exercising week, so hopefully that would make up for my shitty food choices.

I woke up this morning not feeling the best, but rolled out of bed, trudged up to the loo and then jumped on the scales.

It showed a loss! Of 0.8kg. Which means overnight I lost 1.7kg. CRAZY.

Yesterday was a carb-free, fruit-free day. Mish and the 12WBT crew call them 'Accelerator Days'. All day I craved carbs... Anything carb, but mostly I wanted white bread and butter. Comfort food. Breakfast without carbs was like dying a slow death. Eggs and baked beans and a fried tomato. Tasty, but I missed the bread. Lunch I had leftover prawns from the other night with a salad *yum*. I also had a yoghurt smoothie too which was delicious and really filling. But H's peanutbutter sandwich was making googly-eyes at me! Dinner we had fish and ratatouille. Meh.

Snacks were the worst though. Everything that I wanted to snack on had carbs! Pah! I settled for carrot sticks and hummus, ham and cheese and tomatoes. Booooooooring. I have one more accelerator day left (next tuesday) and I was adamant that I wasn't going to do it next week because it was so painful. But if it helped to show that 0.8kg loss on the scales this morning I will do anything!

Stats for this week's weigh in:

Starting Weight (1 Jan):       106.8 kg
Last week's weight:               85.0 kg
This week's Weight:               84.2 kg

Weight lost this week:              0.8 kg
Weight lost during 12WBT:    14.6 kg

Weight lost overall:                22.6 kg

Blogger Challenge Week 10: Benefits

What are the benefits you have noticed in the way you look?
What haven't I noticed? My waist is smaller, my collarbones are sticking out, my boobs are smaller and saggier *sob*, my feet are thinner (I think I've dropped a half size in shoes!) I can sit in chairs without too much flab hanging over the sides (looking forward to being able to sit comfortably in aeroplane seats! My nails are stronger and my hair has more volume. And the biggest change? My calves! Since I've been wearing boots, I've never been able to fit a pair of boots in the calves. NEVER. I've had to shop online for boots with a wider allowance in the calves. I tried a pair of boots on in the shop the other day and I can fit them! WOOOO HOOO! Now to find a pair that I really like.

What are the benefits you have noticed in your mindset? What breakthroughs have you had along the way?

I KNOW I can do it. I KNOW that I can run for a long distance. I know when my body is puffed and tired, I can back off on the intensity instead of giving up. I trust in myself. I CAN say no to the piece of cake, maccas drive through, dessert etc. I know that I chave good days and bad days with my food and exercise, but I try not to beat myself up about it. I work harder the next day!

What are the benefits you have noticed in your fitness levels?

I can play with my kids without feeling like I need to sit down! I can walk up a light of stairs without puffing. I can walk up my hill without stopping. I can run! Oh my goodness - I can run! I can keep up with my husband's long strides without feeling out of breath. I can push both kids in the pram (a workout in itself!) for long distances. I ran a 5km fun run a few weeks ago. I never would have attempted that, let alone complete it!

And finally, what benefits have you noticed in your health? I haven't been sick since I've started this journey. Not a sniffle or a spew bug or a spot. My hayfever has improved. My blood pressure (which skyrocketed during both pregnancies) is normal. I don't know whether it's the clean, fresh air that has made a difference, or my new healthy lifestyle. Either way, 12wbt has done this!

24th April

Remember last month when I posted a photo of me from the 24th of February and the 24th of March? It was great seeing a side-by-side shot of me, a month apart.

Today I took another pic. It's the 24th of April! There are slight differences, but you can really see that the weight loss is slowing. I can see my lumps and bumps evening out and my arms tightening (thank you Pump class!).

Gym Membership

I'm going to join the gym that I go to. I have been going as a casual for the last 4 months as it was only $6 for a class and I was only going once a week. They've now upped their casual prices to $8. Still cheap, but I'm going more often.

I've decided that the classes are awesome and I push myself so much more than I do at home. I've been to the gym Tuesday and Friday this week and may even make the trek in 3x per week if I sign up. Downside to gymming is that the kids sleep in the car on the way home and it's hit and miss to whether I can get them to sleep at home after their lunch. Normally there's no way that either of them will sleep. But occasionally (like today) I get a win and the little-est will go back to sleep.

So for 6 months it's $220. If I break that down to weekly it's about $8.50 a week. Not too bad. The killer is the cost of the creche. $10 for both kids to go.

I'm going to join next week. Hopefully there'll be someone there to take my money!

Dinner out!

The hub and I dropped the kids at my parents' house last night so that we could go out for dinner. It was a win-win for everyone as my parents just adore their grandkids (even when both kids are stuffed up with a cold and cranky!). So we glammed up and went to dinner (fully paid for by the hub's work!) and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

I also felt entirely guilty about everything that went in my mouth. But considering that it was my first night out on the program I think I'm entitled to a treat night. I could have made MUCH better choices, but I didn't. I even had a glass of wine. It was all just fabulous! Menu for the evening:

Entree: The hub and I shared the entrees... Salt & Pepper Squid with sweet potato crisps (yum) and Chilli Prawns.

Main: Fettucine Gamberetti. This was such a bad choice. Cream, pasta, garlic, prawns... But ohhh so yummy. I'm sure there were 1200 calories just in this meal. I only ate half of it. So full.

We were going to have dessert too, but I was so full and I really didn't want to pour even more calories into my mouth than I already had.

Frog Belly: Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (Margaret River)

Speaking of pouring calories in... This wine. Oh my goodness. So YUMMY! I haven't had a glass of wine in over 2 years (pregnancy and breastfeeding then a health kick kinda puts you in an alcohol-free zone). I stopped at one. But I could have easily had a whole bottle!

The next time I'm in Margs I'm buying a case of these. Or 4.

To make the best of a kid-free night we also went to the movies. A 'proper' dinner date! And it was the first time in I don't know how many years that neither of us had a bag of MnMs or skittles or the like. I used to eat a whole huge bag nearly during the ads before the movie! Talk about binging! I didn't miss the mindless eating.

And then home again to my parents house (after midnight!) for the kids to wake us up at 5.15am. *sigh* so tired!  I only wish my panda eyes looked this cute:

Stats...

I tripped and a few solid little easter eggs hit my mouth this week. Honest!  Have made some poor choices food wise this week. Yesterday I didn't eat lunch. I ate 2 ANZAC bikkies instead :/

I rocked it out at the gym yesterday though, and Sunday was a great exercise day, so I'm hoping that evened out the numbers on the scale!

Another 1kg loss this week. Loving this program, loving my enthusiasm and loving life! Exactly 10kg until my first goal weight!


Stats for this week's weigh in:

Starting Weight (1 Jan):       106.8 kg
Last week's weight:               86.0 kg
This week's Weight:               85.0 kg

Weight lost this week:              1.0 kg
Weight lost during 12WBT:    13.8 kg

Weight lost overall:                21.8 kg

Stiff and sore and OWWW!

I'm still sore from the fun run. I knew I would have some DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), but I didn't realise that the little muscle behind my knee that was aggravating me during my run would now be protesting... loudly!

I've limped and hobbled around all of yesterday and I'm blaming the soreness for the lack of housework done yesterday! So instead of wallowing today, I took myself off to the gym to shake my routine up a bit! I needed to get out of the house as the outdoor workouts are just not motivating me at the moment.

The trainer today was awesome! She had an amazing circuit set up and she had time to come around to all of us and correct technique, offer advice and be our general kick-up-the-butt! We even had a stair-run half way through which sent my heartrate sky rocketing!

But the twinge in my knee/butt let me know that it was not pleased to be out and about. Crap. It's really sore now! I'm just stretching it and trying to keep it warm to see if it will heal on it's own.

I've ordered that dress from the UK for the finale in a size 14, so am re-committing to losing this weight! Finale is in 4 weeks and am hoping to lost another 4kg by then - totally doable with my track record! I am desperate not to have to shop for another dress in a couple of weeks because this one doesn't fit/suit. But this soreness is putting a rather big downer on those hopes!