My crew

Over the last 9 months I have made some AMAZING friends doing the 12WBT. I am shocked at how close some of us have become in such a short time. I joined a FaceBook group early in January - and there were about 50 members... 10 of which were active!

We now have close to 300 members with so many active! And we are all so supportive of one another! Someone is down? Another is there to kick us up the bum - or give a hug if that is preferred :)

But I love my girls. I meet some in my nearby town after the gym once a week, just to have coffee and chat! I miss them if I don't see them often! We all catch up for fun runs and exercise sessions and we have a blast. It is amazing how much fun I am having getting fit! Who would have thought??

Here are some pics of us growing in numbers over the year so far. These are from our fitness tests from February, through to now!

We're growing! <3

Permission to be a slacker...

Long time no chat! I miss this. I miss telling the world how awesome I am! I miss you!! My last post was eons ago. Let me fill you in on what has been happening in the journey to 'Find Marnie"...


Round 1 - you all know I smashed out a 16.8kg loss... fab :D
Round 2 - Start weight 79.9kg, end weight 77.8kg :/ Not so fab. A loss is a loss, but it was terribly disappointing.
Round 3 - Start weight: 77.8kg, Current weight: 75.5 

So I've coasted for 5 months... May - October has seen me take my foot off the accelerator... Absolutely well and truly. -6.5kgs since May 6... I've kept up the exercise because I LOVE IT... Absolutely love the feeling exercise gives me and love that I can start to tone up my flabby bits. I love that I can chase my kids around the house and help the hub around the house with more manual tasks. I'm strong! And I LOVE IT! And I'm a tad grumpy if I don't get to exercise!!

So imagine what the numbers on the scale would be like if I didn't keep the exercise up?? Oh my goodness - I'm not keen to think about that. Because every food rule that I have learned over the first 12 weeks of the 12WBT, I have broken over and over again. A bikkie? Sure, why not... Hey! You've exercised today - why not have 3... or the whole effing packet! Bah! I gave myself permission, day in and day out to eat what I wanted.

When I found myself down with Sinusitis for the last 3 weeks, I gave myself permission to tone the exercise down a notch too... I felt horrid, started getting really snarky at everyone and felt terrible about myself. Exercise would have snapped this out of me, but I refused.

The days are getting lighter earlier and the sun is setting later in the evenings and I used to be out there running/walking EVERY day... I was running out of excuses to just get out there and do it.

So today, sick of my internal bitching and whining, I made a personal affirmation to my group of girls in the South West Crew... I wrote a post explaining how crap I was feeling and I knew that only I could do something about it. So I am! Today is Day 1 and far out it was awesome! Feeling so positive and feeling so fabulous! It is week 7 of the program at the moment... But I am going to smash out these last 5 weeks. Look out world!

Not dead, just naughty!

When I go AWOL... I go REALLY AWOL. Hahaha. Apologise to those of you who have been waiting with bated breath.

I fell off the fitness wagon and am only now starting to climb back up. I had an excellent time in Melbourne for the finale and am getting back in to the swing of life without meal plans and trying to do the right thing food-wise.

Will come back and post some piccies of my weekend away. I know my facebook friends are sick to death of seeing photos of my fab weekend, so they'll get another hit when they come to check this lonely site out again!

Feeling really blah at the moment. I've just hauled my butt to the gym for the 3rd day in a row and am feeling every muscle that got slack over the past few weeks. I've got aches where people shouldn't ache! To top it off, only 3 people rocked up to the circuit class today which meant the trainer was on top of us - no slacking! I'm so sore and DOMS from today haven't even kicked in.

Food - ughh don't go there. I just ate 4 scotch finger biscuits for lunch. I've meal planned, so the dinners are controlled, but my lunch is so far out of control I really hope I can rein them back in before Round 2 starts next week! I'm cooking up a pea and ham soup this afternoon, so I'm hoping that will stop all this ridiculousness. :/

On a positive note, I haven't put on any weight since the end of round. But I've only lost 500g in 2.5 weeks. Hmmmm... for someone supposedly committed to this healthier life, I haven't done that great. But then I haven't done that badly either. It could be much worse.

Ok, my quick post to let you know I'm alive has turned into a novella. I'll check back in when I have more time!

xx

The Running Centre

These people are awesome. If you live anywhere near Perth and are in need of new running shoes - or any fitness paraphernalia, then Cody and his team at the Running Centre are the people to see.

My new shoes feel like I'm running on clouds and after buying them and wearing them for over a week, not a single blister has graced my feet. They are truly awesome shoes. But holy hell - they are the UGLIEST effing running shoes I have ever owned. So ugly, the leaves wilt when I run past.

See? UGLY! But oh so very comfortable. And they fit like a dream. One of the Running Centre team give you a survey when you arrive to find out your running/fitness needs. Right down to what socks you wear when running (this makes a difference how??? I forgot to ask!)

They have a 5-step Shoe Fitting system which really helps to decide which shoes are going to help you to run at your very best for your foot and your running style.

Step 1: The survey... right down to the socks you wear!
Step 2: Measurements. (Of your feet!) Not just the length, but width and what happens to your knees when you bend them. Very comprehensive!
Step 3:  Arch. They look at your arch using a fancy plate thingie. Very technical! I got told I had great arches. *Blush*
Step 4: Treadmill running. Just slowly! ;-) Guess they don't want you flying off the back of the treaddy and suing them! But while you're running, the team video your running style looking for little hints and tips that might help them work out what shoes would suit you.
Step 5: They bring out a range of shoes and you try them on - one type on one foot and then the other type on the other foot. Then you run some more. Outside... right out the front of the coffee shop and bank. Don't be too put out though. I'm sure the coffee drinkers were thinking that I was amazing looking and about to head to London for the games!

So thorough!

If you live in or near Perth... drop in and see them when you need new shoes. Their fitting system is WAY better than the other ones that are at some of the shoe chainstores. And the service is spot on! (Doesn't hurt that Cody is very easy on the eyes and his accent is lovely!)


You can find them at:

http://therunningcentre.com.au/

OR

 The-Running-Centre (Facebook) 

If you head to their website before heading in, sign up to their newsletter for at 20% discount on your purchases! If you do head in to see them, tell them I sent you!

They are in West Perth on Hay St, and the Red Cat bus drops you right out the front of their store. Super easy!

Disclaimer: I was not paid nor asked to write this post. I am not affiliated with TRC in any way. I bought my own shoes and wanted to shout to the world about how awesome The Running Centre is!

Final Fitness Test

I trekked into town today for my final fitness test. It has been raining here - 50mm of rain overnight, so our farm is very soggy. So soggy in fact, that I almost got bogged this morning on our road! Not a good sign for the winter to come if I'm getting bogged on the first big rain of the season! The hub is out there now 'fixing' it... But, I digress.

Week 12 fitness test was today. I was sooo nervous! I wanted to better my time from last week. It's amazing how competitive I have become - not with others, but with myself! I am desperately trying to push the boundaries every time I get out there. Which is a good thing. For sure! The women (and man) of the South West Perth Crew are so inspiring! There are some on their 3rd or 4th round that have lost 40+kg. So amazing. And then I remember that I (little old me) has lost 24kg. Far out. Everyone is looking fabulous and I can see all the hard work really paying off for them. Some are totally dedicated and are out burning their 500cals every day and eating squeaky clean, others started dedicated but are slowly dwindling (like me). But everyone there today has lost weight over the 12 weeks. Fantastic women!

And we were committed! The high school oval that we run on? Squishy, squelchy and totally waterlogged! Was not an easy run. I had a different game plan this week. I always seem to have heaps left in the tank by then end of the run and find myself sprinting at the end. So this time I went out fast and ran the first 250m at a sprint. I slowed down considerably when I hit the super soggy ground. My shoes and socks were totally drenched. We run 3 laps, so I had to run through that mess 3 times. YUCK! But the game plan seemed to work because by the end of the 1km I was exhausted... Nothing left for a sprint!

 

Solid improvements all the way. I was a bit disappointed with my Sit & Reach today, but my legs but so stiff after the run. I'm hoping that over the 4 week break from the end of this round, to the start of next round that my fitness will remain. I don't particularly want to go backwards when you see how far I have come!

Graphs...

This is the graph that greets me every time I log into the 12WBT site. It's like greeting an old friend. Gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, and if you're affectionate like me, a kiss on the cheek.




It shows me everything I need to know about how fabulous I am within a glance. The downward trend of the line does wonderful things to my self-belief.

Stats for the last weigh in:

Starting Weight (1 Jan):       106.8 kg
Last week's weight:               84.2 kg
This week's Weight:               83.1 kg

Weight lost this week:              1.1 kg
Weight lost during 12WBT:    15.7 kg

Weight lost overall:                23.7 kg

We've also done our measurements this week too...

 

69cm?? In 12 weeks? That's phenomenal. I think it was:

Week 1-4= 27.5cm
Week 5-8= 21.5cm
Week 9-12= 20.0cm

Pretty cool!

Shopping for a smaller bod!

Shopping after you've lost some weight is very daunting, but SO much fun! It was really interesting to see that my body doesn't fit a standard size. I'm a definite Size 12 (Australia) or a Medium on top. Narrow shoulders and small boobs (sob) help my fit into a Size 12 comfortably. However, the bottom half is a rock-solid Size 14 (and a long way from being a 12).

On my shopping list this weekend was:

** New running shoes
** Jeans
** Tall boots
** Sucky-in-undies
** Dressier jumpers/tops than my sports cardies.
** Sports Bra
** Smaller workout pants
** Winter uggboots for Master H and new winter flannelette PJs for the kiddies.

Me in my new jeans and shoes!

Thankfully, the Hub was gorgeous enough to take the kids to his mates' place where they could play with some other kids and let their mummy shop in peace. Oh the bliss. Not having to push a pram/stroller through clothing racks or entertaining children in a changeroom without them sucking on the mirror (oh the germs!). And shopping with kids always takes 10 times longer because you have to get them food to keep their hands, minds and bellies busy. You need to take one to the toilet, then get 15mins into your shopping and work out that the other one needs a nappy change. So I was VERY grateful for my shopping trip all alone!

 First stop was The Running Centre in West Perth for new shoes. I'll let you know about these awesome people in another post. I started to write it all down here and it took up a huge amount of space. I want to give them all the absolute credit they deserve, so they get their own post!


Next it was on to Harbourtown which is the factory direct outlet in Perth. Here I found some Lorna Jane pants. I was unconvinced when I bought them, but they were 20% off. I gave them the thumbs up after my run the next day! I also found the uggs for H. Out of all the shoe stores and bra stores though I couldn't find anything in my size. (And the boots still won't do up over my monster calves *sniffle*)

Off to Perth City and headed straight to Jeans West to grab my jeans. I knew what I wanted in style and colour and did NOT need the pushy assistant telling me that I needed 2 pairs. "Because they are 2 for $100", well lovie - that's $30 + an extra pair of jeans that I just didn't want/need. Anyway the exciting thing??? SIZE 13. I haven't been that size in jeans since 2003. Holy crap! 9 years!

Sucky-in-undies from David Jones... done. They worked a treat!

Spanx

Bra and boots :( :( didn't get either, but managed to pick up a cute pair of ballet flats to ease my sadness! And I completely forgot to look for jumpers! I was fairly warm while flitting from shop to shop!

I absolutely feel more confident about being in 'normal sizes' stores. It was pleasant to not feel like the 'fat girl'. Looking forward to another shopping trip in a couple of months. I wonder what size I'll be then?