It has taken sometime to get there... but today, at weigh in, I achieved two of my mini goals. Only 100g lighter than last week, but that 100g means so much, because it means I have now lost 20kg, AND I finally got into the 70's.
79.9kg!!!
20 kgs! That's your luggage allowance on a flight...I know how heavy that is... I mean once you pass that allowance, they chuck a little tag that says 'heavy' on it!
I am 1/3rd through the year, and 2/3rds of the way to my ultimate goal of being in the 60's. When I first started this journey, and thought I had 30kg to lose, it seemed so far out there, so hard, so unachievable... but breaking down the goals into small chunks and aiming for the first one, and then the next one, and then the next one, has made it happen...and fun.
As I write this, I'm watching the Biggest Loser contestants facing their fears, and thinking of what I can do to challenge myself even further.
I have got the 10km run to do on June 30, but here are some other challenges that are enticing me, (that I always thought looked cool, but not for me... cos I was too fat)...
Sea Kayaking
Abseiling
Trapeze
Indoor Rock Climbing
These things weren't on my bucket list originally, but as I am becoming the person I always wanted to be, I am aware now that there were things that I would've liked to do, but it was just fear holding me back.
I still have 10kg to lose, and still a lot to learn about nutrition, and exercise, and how my mind and body will battle each other, but even though I am not there yet, I have already learned enough to know that I can do it, and I will do it, bit by bit, goal by goal, and challenge by challenge.
Well Well Well, I have been quiet on here... combination of starting a new job and being so exhausted, and trying to load a video last week, and getting errors so I gave up... But I'm back and raring to go, because Today was weigh-in, and I weighed in at 80kg on the dot. The scales teased me by flashing up at 79.9 for a split second before settling on 80, but considering my week had not been perfect, I was very happy with the 800g loss. And now... I am thrilled. I just got home and had an email from Mish, saying I was in the top 15% of the people on the 12WBT program (round 1).... need I say I was shocked, stocked and extremely happy.
We are currently on week 10, so for those of you who are good at maths, that would mean 2 weeks until the end of the 12 week challenge, so the question is.. Am I going to reach my 12 week goal of 10kg lost?
Currently sitting at 8.1kg lost on the program... meaning I have 1.9 to go to reach this goal! Surely I can manage this.... I have on average lost between 700g and 1kg each week (except for the flatline) so I can do this if I put my mind to it.
Now onto other matters, or calendar events! 10 days until my next fun run! 5kms again...my plan is to get enough practise doing 5km runs that they 'start' to feel comfortable and then I can slowly move up to the 8km Mothers day classic, before the 10km in the Gold Coast Marathon... remember when this was just a pipe dream? "marathon-effort"
and on Thursday May 17, I'm gonna jump on a plane and fly to Melbourne, to meet up with one of my Best Friends (and cousin) Melissa, and we are spending 3 nights together! On the Saturday we will be attending the Group Workout with Michelle Bridges in the centre of Melbourne, and Saturday night attending the Finale Party where we will 'Sparkle' and find out all the winners from Round 1 2012!
Thursday and Friday will be well spent on Sightseeing and Shopping, so I don't think we will be bored.
Melissa and I haven't seen each other since January, when she and her family came to the Gold Coast for a Holiday. She is flying into Melbourne from New Zealand so this is a much bigger effort for her to get there and I am so grateful that she is making that effort so we can share this big celebration together!
This is Me and Melissa, in January... can't wait to take an 'after' photo.
Mel and I, with our 12WBT inspiration, Cass (also taken in January)
Also joining us in Melbourne will be Cass! Cass did last round of the 12WBT, and watching her shrink before our eyes was the catalyst for Melissa and I joining the challenge in the first place. Cass is a lot further along in her journey, at the last few kilos/Maintenance stage, so she is still a real inspiration.
6 hours in and I had 56 'Likes'.... by 9.30pm Monday I had 65... 2 and a half hours before the deadline.... will there be anymore? So in my excitement of discovering parkrun, and entering all these fun runs... have I over estimated myself?
Plan of attack: Mon, Wed, Thurs - Run the 4km Lake or Run Part of my 6.5km walk to work (4km x 3 = 12km) Sat - Park Run (5km) that is 17km per week, minimum. 4 weeks until 12WBT finishes 17km x 4weeks = 68km .... I CAN DO THIS!
I will dedicate each km to a person who 'liked', and during that Km I will think about them, and use them to help me through it.
You see, Motivation to get up and "JFDI" is difficult, well when you are Motivated it's easy, it's when that nasty motivation is hiding, and you just can't find it wherever you look... that's where the struggle comes. I know from experience that I promise myself the world, and let myself down time and time again, but when I promise someone else something, then I absolutely HATE letting them down. So thanks to everyone who participated in this, your one little click is going to keep me motivated... This is one challenge I am not going to forget in a hurry.
In other news... It's the end of the 4 day weekend, back to work tomorrow, and less than 36 hours until Weigh in. I want my weight to start with a 7 sooooo badly. This morning I was 300g away. I'm so close I can taste it, and boy it is easier to resist chocolate easter eggs when you are that close to something you want!
Week 9 of the programme has Michelle introducing Accelerator Days, where on a Tuesday we will eat no simple carbohydrates. No fruit, no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or excess sugar. Our day will consist of vegetables and protein. This is designed to accelerate our weight loss, reduce water retention and boost the intake of vegetables. Cass swears by them, so I am looking forward to seeing what affect it has on the scales.
Breakky - My Egg will be boiled instead
Lunch is a Fritatta with Salad
Next post will be the Weigh in Result... wish me Luck!
MINI MILESTONE
My second mini milestone was to do a 5km run..without stopping, and as you know I completed that last weekend....but once you start, you gotta keep going, right?
So, my friend Sandra and I tried out Park Run this morning, and I have decided that it is one of the coolest things on the coast.... and I'm going to try and do it every week in my build up to doing 10 kms in the Gold Coast marathon.
A 5km timed run, every Saturday at 7am, for free. Run by volunteers, assisted by the council, and the course is beautiful beach front, and paths through the dunes and trees. Below is a video showing the course we ran this morning... Yep thats right RAN! When you watch the video it seems quite a distance.
It's worldwide, so there could be a location near you... if not, why not enquire about starting one?
By 1pm, I had an email with my time, and placing in the field, and considering that official 'fun runs' have a registration fee of between $30 - $45 each time, this free weekly community run is just awesome. It happened to be ParkRun's first birthday, so there was an extra big turn out of 196 people.
FITNESS TEST Since the start of the 12WBT, my fitness has improved in the following ways:
1km time trial - Day 1 = 8 min 2 sec, Now = 6min 1 sec
Push ups (on knees) - Day 1 = 31 in 1 minute, Now = 65 in 1 minute
Push ups (on toes) - Day 1 = 0, Now = 12
Abdominal strength* - Day 1 = level 2, Now = level 3
Wall Sit - Day 1 = 38 seconds, Now = 1m 27 seconds
MEASUREMENTS I have lost a total of 32.5 cm off my body since 8 weeks ago! WOW. 7cm off the hips, and 6 cm off the waist... no wonder my old pants fall down now.
So with weigh-in in 4 days, I am super excited. I have my eyes on the prize (of being in the 70's) and a Super Saturday Session today, burning at least 1050 calories (not counting doing my fitness test or walking the stairs in wet n wild) has got me set up to win. Another exciting day tomorrow, and an Accelerator day planned for Tuesday... I AM going to nail this.
Well, #1 - 2 days late to tell you about weigh in. Not that I really want to, because I remained the same. No weight lost... but on the plus side, no weight gained. I know what I did, or did not do to cause this. I ate a few things I shouldn't have, I didn't weigh or measure my food, and had too many excuses for exercise that I let get to me.... However, I think I now know how to maintain my weight when I do get to the ideal weight.
#2.. Easter, not being religious, really only means chocolate and public holidays to me. Easter is otherwise known as HELL WEEK for those of us on a diet (sorry healthy eating regime) and who love chocolate.
I had done very well and resisted all the aisles of chocolate bunnies, and eggs, and Hot Cross Buns for weeks, then on Thursday,... well my resolve... it dissolved.
1 tiny little 10g egg... I told myself "one won't hurt", but I know better, I know that "one won't hurt" is a lie because it's like opening flood gates.. 1 egg, turned into 2, ... then two little bunnies, then 2 more eggs (50g this time)....Argghh.
Easter Bunny came to work
these little devils wore me down
Nutrition wise, the day went severely downhill from there, although enjoyment factor was great. What with Celebratory work lunches, and work meeting and farewell drinks at the pub, followed by a missed bus, which caused me to have to miss my kickboxing class and have to go back to the pub to wait for a ride home... 3 beers and a pub meal later, I felt like the day was a complete failure.
But... we are in Week 8 of 12. One bad day (or good day if you see it that way) does not undo all that great work.
I am determined not to weigh the same next Wednesday, I am determined to have a great loss on the scales this week.... and i'm gonna work my butt off to make it happen.
As luck would have it ... I have a 4 day weekend, so there is absolutely no excuse to not exercise.
The Plan :
Today, Good Friday :
- 1km run (time trial) Burned 88 Calories, took me 6mins 1 sec. 40 seconds faster than 4 weeks ago.
- Zumba Class, 603 calories burned.
- Ate clean - took the kids to the movies even, and didn't get popcorn or anything.
Tomorrow, Saturday:
- 5km run. My mate Sandra and I are going to try Park Run
- followed by the remainder of my week 8 fitness test.
- Going shopping to buy 1 Easter egg each for my kids... thats all, and maybe try on some smaller clothes while I'm there.
- Coming home to pull weeds out of the garden, and if that doesn't burn mega calories, I don't know what will.
Easter Sunday:
- Gonna get up early and head down to Burleigh Headland and do the walk, followed by a dip in the sea. Followed by the rest of garden, if necessary.
Easter Monday:
- 9.30 am Zumba Class
- Wet n Wild... have you felt the burn in your ass, walking those stairs to the slide?
- 6.30 pm Kickboxing Class
I have new focus, and with time to plan and organise, I will eat super clean, and come weign in wednesday, I am hoping to see that number start with a 7.
I set of from home at 6.15 to go to my first ever Fun Run. Well I had done the walking part of a Fun Run/Walk before, but I had never actually RUN in a Fun Run. Todays event was a 5km race for me. The Runaway Bay Super Sports centre and a company called Corporate Challange put on this series of races as a build up to the Gold Coast Marathon 30June-1July.
Cass is doing the progressive series, meaning each race the distance is increasing, so she can build up to her Half Marathon. Each progressive race is accompanied by a 5km race. So today I entered the 5km, and Cass was in the 8km.
Taking a self portrait with the Start Line in the background.
So at 7am I started running, and I didn't stop until 38mins and 18 seconds later, when I crossed the finish line (official time yet to be released, but I will update when it is). 'Unhealthy Me' didn't even bother arguing with me this time. She knew I was serious, she knew I had run 4km before and really I felt ok until that last km, and by that time I knew the finish line was in sight and I just had to keep going. My goal was to run it without stopping, without walking, and I did it.
I was surrounded by ladies who were walking, then running, then walking, then running, and we were constantly overtaking each other. I kept telling myself that it didn't matter what they were doing , that I was running my own race, keeping my nice constant pace. By the 4km mark I realised I had left those ladies behind me. I had one lady who was about 20 metres in front of me the whole way who was walking occasionally, and I would nearly catch her, and then she would run again and get away from me... she was my inspiration. I just wanted to catch her.
When I got to the entrance of the track , with 400m to run, she stopped to walk, and by the 200m mark I had caught her!
"C'mon", I said, "Lets finish this"... and we sprinted the last 150m... I gave it everything, getting my heart rate up to 200! But she finished ahead of me by 2 seconds.
Crossing that finish line was cool, they called out your name and time over the microphone... next time I will be taking a cheer squad to share it with. This time it was me, doing it for me.
So after an electrolyte drink, and a sit down to stop the legs from Shaking, I found a nice spot to wait for Cass to come in from her 8km run. I really have her to thank for me achieving this today, she believed I could do this well before I even thought it might be possible. I have been following her lead by doing the 12WBT, and now fun runs, so I absolutely had to get the 'after' photo with her.
Cass and I after our Races.
So what's next?
29th April... either the Runaway Bay 5km fun run again (Cass will be doing the 10km), or the Gold Coast Bulletin Fun Run in Robina. Haven't registered yet, just waiting to see if any of the family wants to join me.. if we join up at the family price, the kids are basically free. Any one else want to join me?
