New Facebook Page

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!

I am still in the process of creating a healthier me, and it's going quite well at the moment :).

I'm just struggling to find enough time to keep on top of my last semester at uni, workout 6 days a week, prep healthy food, occasionally have a life AND keep up to date with my blog.

For this reason, I have created a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/creatinghealthykt

This way I can still post about my journey and other health and fitness related things, but much more frequently! I will still write blog posts when I find that I have something lengthy to say, but you can follow my day to day journey by liking my page and/or following me on Instagram: @creatinghealthykt 

I hope to see you there

Distinguishing between good and poor quality health information

Apologies for my absence. I have been preoccupied with returning to uni and the return of some of my really bad eating habits! But more about that later. This is an ‘informative’ blog post, rather than one focussing on my health and fitness journey.

I wrote most of this post a few weeks ago, but only just got around to finishing it today, being inspired by last night’s 12wbt e-mail, which mentioned some of the exact issues; “super foods” and “high protein diets”, that I have been thinking about lately. I have so much more respect for Michelle Bridges after that e-mail. She is so much more than a personal trainer. She actually knows what she is talking about and is genuinely interested in promoting health.  

I was originally going to make this a post on protein and high protein diets. But when I started writing it in my head (as I always do for a few days before actually getting around to putting pen to paper- or fingers to keyboard), I realised there was too much I wanted to say for just one post. So in this post I feel like I should talk about how and why we should critique the health and nutrition information that comes our way. This will act as kind of an intro for what I will be talking about next time.

Distinguishing between good and poor quality
health information

The reason I want to talk about critiquing health and nutrition information is because lately I have been astounded and very frustrated by the amount of misinformation (or blatant untruths) being bestowed upon the general population, who, more often than not, don’t know any better.This whole thing sort of started when I joined a gym earlier this year. As part of the start-up package I received some personal training sessions and nutrition consultations.

The first personal training session involved going through my goals, expectations, current eating habits etc. This was all fine until the personal trainer informed me (after asking how many serves of protein I eat a day- typical!) that yogurt and eggs don’t count as animal protein. Alrighty then!

Now, the old me would have had a lot to say about that. I feel the need to correct people when they are wrong. Unfortunately people don’t like to be corrected, so I am slowly learning to just keep my mouth shut unless people actually ask. Instead I made sure he knew that I was studying nutrition. He didn't offer any more nutrition advice after that.

The nutrition consultations were a bizarre experience. I figured there wouldn't be a lot they could do for me since I already know how to, and generally do eat healthily. But the consultations were free and I was eager to meet some people who actually work in the field that I am interested in. However, the strangest thing happened. Not only did the first consultant I saw basically ignore the fact that I was one subject away from a nutrition major (qualifying me to register as an associate nutritionist), she completely belittled my food diary, which I still believe was very healthy.

My breakfasts were (I quote) “crap”. Why was I eating a slice of toast with my egg when I could just eat more eggs? Why was I eating fruit at breakfast time? You can’t eat fruit! Protein, protein, protein. Eat more protein!

I explained that I need carbohydrates in my breakfast because I don’t have the energy to exercise otherwise and her response was “okay, but you’ll get used to it”. At the time I didn't know all the facts about high protein diets and was not aware of how unnecessary and even detrimental they can be, so while I knew enough to basically ignore everything she said, it still made me doubt myself.   

The other problem I had with the consultation was that my mum (we had our consultations at the same time) openly admitted that she drinks too much alcohol and it needs to be addressed, however, this fact was completely ignored in the suggestions that were made. She also basically told my mum that she doesn't need to lose weight (2-3kg maximum) because she is older, and therefore allowed to have more body fat. My mum is clearly overweight and unhappy with her appearance. Her waist circumference and waist/hip ratio are also way too high- factors that weren't even acknowledged. This is just plain bad advice! This consultant was not interested in tailoring her advice to suit us as individuals. She was just interested in pushing her high protein regime and other extreme beliefs (that are not based on evidence) onto us.

The second appointment was with a different consultant. A nutrition student, like myself. Looking at the notes from the last consultation she said, “How’s everything been going? It says here that your fruit consumption was too high. Have you addressed that?”
I replied, “No, I only eat two pieces of fruit a day and I think that is completely acceptable.” 

To which she agreed with me. She assumed from the comment that I must have been eating 5 or 6 servings a day. After talking to her for a little longer she told me that I was on top of things and knew what I was doing.

I had assumed that all the consultants here were actually nutritionists and I was interested in learning about how they went about becoming registered. After talking to one of the women there who told me she was a nutritionist, but gave me extremely vague and unhelpful advice beyond that, I looked into her qualifications and realised that she had no formal nutrition education. So she was clearly not registered, yet was telling me she was a qualified nutritionist!

      

Luckily, because I am educated in health science, I didn't take everything that I was told for granted in these situations. And as it turns out, I actually know more about nutrition than the people who were meant to be giving me advice. That’s a scary thought! So now that I have shared my experience I will talk about the general ways in which this misinformation might get out there, which will hopefully allow you to better distinguish between good and bad quality health information. Not all of these scenarios are sinister, but some are.

The main reasons why health misinformation is perpetuated:

1. People giving advice or recommendations beyond their level of expertise

For example, personal trainers are given extremely minimal education in nutrition. This seems ridiculous, given the nature of their job, but that’s how it is. For this reason, personal trainers are only qualified to give very basic nutrition advice, however this doesn’t stop them from giving out information that is beyond their training. A health and fitness professional is unlikely to tell a client that they “don’t know” the answer to a nutrition question or are “not qualified” to answer. Or they might have taken it upon themselves to learn more about nutrition, but this does not mean that what they’ve learnt is from a reliable source, or that the information was understood properly. For this reason, it is good to be cautious with any kind of advice you receive in these kinds of situations, particularly if the person seems to have some very strong or extreme opinions.

2. The nutrition profession is poorly regulated

There is no compulsory registry for nutritionists. Basically this means that a person can call themselves a nutritionist without having to actually prove that they know anything about nutrition. The Nutrition Society of Australia offers voluntary registration for qualified nutritionists and registration is only available to those who have completed appropriate tertiary study as well as 3 years experience in the work force. So if you are going to seek the advice of a nutritionist, make sure that they are registered with the Nutrition Society. On a similar note, anyone can write a diet book or weight loss program, whether they know what they are talking about or not. You could write one tomorrow!

3. Ulterior motives

Basically, if the person giving you the information is trying to get money out of you, be sceptical of the claims that are being made. This is particularly relevant when a person or advertisement is selling supplements or anything that promises “fast and easy weight loss”. Even when the information appears to be based on scientific evidence, you should still be sceptical. On the off chance that the study used is actually good quality and unbiased, the results are often exaggerated, misinterpreted or straight-up misreported. 

But ulterior motives aren’t always so easy to spot. “Super Foods” are a great example. Ever notice that these miracle foods are all imported from exotic locations and cost a lot of money? You are better off eating some broccoli... It’s pretty super :). Pretty much, anything that sounds too good to be true probably is. And anything that is ridiculously expensive is probably unnecessary.

What makes me particularly angry is when supposed experts, such as scientists, decide to promote or endorse a product. This is one of the biggest marketing ploys that companies use, because psychologically, we are prone to believing what a man in a white coat has to say. These people get payed a lot of money for their “expert opinion”, which conveniently consists of exactly what the company wants us to believe about their product. I find this tactic particularly disgusting, because people who are educated in this stuff should know better. It just shows an utter lack of integrity.  

Final word 

I wish that people would stop trying to take advantage of those who desperately want to lose weight and become healthier. We should want to help and support anyone who is trying to make positive changes to their lives. I know I’m being idealistic, because I know what the world is like. There are a lot of greedy people out there and a lot of money to be made in the weight loss industry. It just makes me sad I guess. I haven’t even finished my degree, yet I've already found myself refusing to apply for a job that would have been great for my resume because I didn't agree with the idea of health and nutrition that they were promoting.

Even though it might be of detriment to me, I refuse to compromise my values and beliefs in terms of healthy living just to make money. The health industry should be about just that; assisting people in becoming healthy. Health is not a thing to be bought or sold, and this idea that health is only available to the highest bidder is ridiculous. Health is not about how much money you have to spend on the latest fads or products. Health is a lifestyle. A choice you make every day.

To be, or not to be... (yes, I am that lame!)

E-mail: creatinghealthykatie@gmail.com

Instagram: Creatinghealthykt

Latest Progress Pics

Since I've officially lost another 5kg in getting below 60kg, it's time for some new progress pics! 

I am so embarrassed doing this, but at the same time, I love seeing other people's transformations and I know how inspired and determined they made me back when I was starting out. If I can inspire or motivate anyone to achieve their goals it will be totally worth it :). 

As you can see, there's 2-3 months between each 5kg loss. Results take time and you need to be patient. There are no quick fixes. I believe that slow, steady, realistic weight loss is the best way to cement healthy habits and consistency. This is what allows for long- term success. 

Front view 

Side view 

Thanks for reading, 

Katie 

E-mail me: creatinghealthykatie@gmail.com

Follow me on Instagram: @creatinghealthykt

12WBT Week 8 Review- Starving!

When I think about the past week, the first word that comes to mind is STARVING! 

I have been so hungry it's not funny! And tired too. I wake up fine, but then a few hours after my workout I'm feeling exhausted and want to go back to bed!

I have been noticing for a few weeks now that sticking to the 1200 calorie nutrition plan seems to be getting harder and harder. Until now, I have still been sticking to it consistently (besides a few weekend binges), but I just feel so much hungrier than I did before. It was actually relatively easy to stick to and I rarely felt hungry, but now, all of a sudden, it doesn't feel like enough food. And it's more than just wanting to eat more as well. It's more of a physical thing where it seems like I genuinely need more. My body is saying, "please feed me!"

I have never experienced this kind of situation before, and I'm not sure I have been dealing with it appropriately!

I was trying so hard to stick to the nutrition plan after all the lollies I ate last Sunday... and a few on Monday. I was dreading the scales on Wednesday, but I actually lost 800g, which I was really surprised about. That meant I had lost the 400g I gained after my birthday, plus an extra 400g.

I think the weigh-in might have been where the problems started. With all the hunger I have been experiencing lately, I have been really tempted to just increase my calories a bit, since I'm so close to my goal weight. I had decided to stick-out the weight loss plan until the end of this round of the 12WBT, but after losing 800g despite eating a lot of lollies, I started thinking in the back of my mind, "well, if I can do that and still lose weight, maybe I can slacken the reins a little". So on Wednesday night I had more lollies. And as I always do when I over-indulge, I felt super guilty afterwards. I managed to be good on Thursday and Friday, but I have discovered these amazing mini ice-creams by Cadbury that are ice-cream versions of chocolate bars! So I managed to fit an ice-cream Turkish delight into my snack allowance on both these days. I know I shouldn't do this kind of thing on a regular basis, but at least it was low fat ice-cream and only 178 calories ;).

Then on Saturday things got worse again. I woke up and had reached my goal of getting below 60kg. Awesome! Then I went to the gym and kicked butt in my SSS. 840 calories! And I was pleased to discover I can still run 5km. More awesome!
But after my giant workout, and a not-so-giant lunch, I was feeling pretty tired. By about 2pm I was exhausted and actually lay down for a nap. I woke up at around 3pm feeling really nauseous, headachy and light headed. I decided to abandon my no-snacks-on-treat-meal-Saturday rule. After eating, all my symptoms disappeared, adding strength to the idea that I need to be eating more. Then on Saturday night, under the bad influence on my boyfriend (who, despite his good intentions, just can't understand having to watch what you eat), I had more lollies and more ice cream. And then, because it's been in the house and because I've been ravenously hungry, I had more ice-cream on Sunday... and Monday... and today. Mountains of ice-cream!

And now you see what I mean when I say I haven't been dealing with the potential need to increase my calories very well. If this happened in one week, I am terrified to think what might happen if I officially went into maintenance.   

It needs to stop! Now!

So here is the plan from now until the end of the 12WBT:

The Plan:

• It is plausible that I need to increase my calories slightly, especially so close to my goal weight. 1200 calories is not a lot, after all. I also did all 6 workouts last week for the first time in a while. On top of this, I did proper strength workouts (instead of just pump) last week with the supervision of Mr. Personal Trainer Boyfriend (meaning no slacking off). This challenged me a lot more and resulted in a lot more DOMS! I intend to keep up this new workout regime, and after my post about building muscle, I'd say my muscles might appreciate some extra food. 
• Trying to stick to 1200 calories despite being ravenously hungry is clearly not working. I can make it to the afternoon/evening, but then I start stuffing my face because I'm so hungry. I would be better off planning for a slight increase in calories through healthy snacks rather than bingeing at the end of the day. 
• As of tomorrow, I will aim for 1,500 calories on the days that I exercise and 1,200 on the days that I don't. It's not a huge increase, but it should make things more bearable. I will see how this is going after a week. 
• I need to get back into the routine of planned meals and snacks. Problems start when I begin eating whenever I feel like it. 
• The main change I will make to increase my calories is adding an extra snack. Until now I have been having an afternoon snack and an evening snack. I will add a morning snack for after my workouts.
• I need to stop buying lollies and junk food! If it's in the house the temptation is too great. The main problem is if I buy a packet of something. If there's just one, you can't go back for more or have any the next day. I won't ban treats altogether (that's just mean!), but I will stop keeping them in the house. 

Oh well, I feel a lot better now that I have a plan. So this week I will focus on putting this plan into action and giving 100% in my workouts. I'm dreading the scales tomorrow. But whatever will be, will be. At least I have a plan!

I will also try to actually complete this week's challenge. 800 burpees! I should probably get started hey? I haven't done a lot of burpees in my life and I am already dreading this. I couldn't even do 20 in a row during a workout last week, and I think I'm pretty fit now! Though, to be fair, it was the end of my workout and I was pretty stuffed.

Here's a tribute to the evil master-mind behind this week's challenge:

Well I think that's all I wanted to say. But since this post has been a bit of a downer, I will end on a few positives from the past week:

• I am really loving doing real resistance training. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I did squats in the squat rack. I was so terrified of the squat rack, but it's not so bad!
• I re-did my fitness test and I have improved on everything! I ran 1km in 4mins36sec. That's 13km an hour! I was pretty stuffed after that. 
• I lost another 7cm. 
• My boyfriend is now an officially certified personal trainer. And he won the award for class champion! I'm so proud of him and I know he will be amazing.  

My brain is currently working on an insightful, but potentially controversial post about protein and high protein/low carb diets, so keep an eye out over the next few days.

Katie

E-mail: creatinghealthykatie@gmail.com
Instagram: @creatinghealthykt

Reached my long-term goal!!!!

In November 2012, after a horrible year and having reached my heaviest ever (76kg), I decided enough was enough! It was time to lose weight, to get fit and to become the happiest, healthiest version of myself. 

As part of this goal I decided that I would get below 60kg by the end of June. It's been a long journey that didn't really take off until January 2013, but today (one week late, but sooo close), I did it!!! 

Instagram: @creatinghealthykt

My 12wbt goal weight is 58kg and I'm still working on reducing my body fat percentage, but I am so happy right now!

Will have to take some new progress pics now I've passed the 60kg mark. Stay tuned.  

On top of that, I smashed my SSS today!

 •10minute warm up

•2.5km rowing machine 

•5km run 

•5minute cool down 

•Stretches 

•Overall: 1hr14mins and 840cals 

Yay! 

Can you increase muscle mass while restricting calories?

I am such a nerd.
I am currently on a 3 week break from uni and what have I spent the last few nights doing? Studying nutrition!

Oh well, I guess you know you chose to study the right thing if you are still interested in learning about it during your holidays, after you've already completed the major! I think I'm also looking at it from a different perspective, now that I'm a gym junkie and all. It's official. I was one of those people lining up outside the gym this morning at 5.45am, waiting for them to open the doors. It's worse because I don't even have a job to go to!

Anyhow, I started my research the other night because I am at that point of my weight loss journey where I've lost the majority of the weight and I am now interested in increasing my muscle mass and getting super toned. I figured I would complete the rest of the 12WBT on the weight loss plan and then maybe sign up for round 3, but do the lean and strong plan instead. That gives me a few weeks to lose those last few kilos and actually see my goal weight on the scales before it potentially goes up again!

My mum said to me, "why don't you just start doing more resistance training now?", and I automatically replied "Because you can't really gain muscle while your body is in a calorie deficit. I need to start eating more food, and I'm not quite ready to do that yet."
After I said that I thought, "hang on a second... is that actually right?"
I absorb a lot of information, and sometimes I don't remember where I heard something from. If I can't remember the source of the information I start to question whether I actually learnt it, or if my head just made it up! So now I had to go looking for the answer.

I did a quick Google search and the results were inconclusive. Most of the stuff I found was on body building forums, and sites like that are notorious for misinformation. Some people were adamant that you could gain muscle while losing weight, some were adamant that you couldn't, and some were sitting on the fence. Not overly helpful. I asked Mr. Personal Trainer boyfriend. He said, "Maybe, but not really. It depends." From this I could only gather that it's probably quite complex and that the general exercising population don't really know.

Because I couldn't get a straight answer, I decided to turn to my nutrition text books. I wasn't sure if they would contain what I wanted to know, but at least I knew the information was reliable! I re-read the chapter on protein and discovered a chapter on nutrition for athletes that we hadn't been required to read as part of the course (love it when that happens!). While the textbook didn't explicitly state what I wanted to know, here's the conclusions I have come to from all my reading and observation:

• When our bodies are in calorie deficit; ie. we are eating less calories than our body needs to sustain itself, we begin to break down body tissue to use as fuel. This is why we lose weight. While this process includes the breakdown of fat, it inevitably includes the breakdown of muscle as well. Therefore it seems that muscle gain would be difficult while the body is undergoing this breakdown process. 
• You need more than just protein to increase muscle size. The process of building up muscle requires carbohydrates, fats and micronutrients in adequate amounts as well. So even if you are on a higher protein diet, muscle increase will still be hindered by a lack of the other macro-nutrients that inevitably occurs during calorie deficit.   
• BUT, my strength has definitely increased despite calorie restriction. But strength comes from using the muscles and isn't necessarily indicative of increased muscle size. But it does seem that I am a lot more toned as well, which would have to come down to increased muscle right? I did read some forum posts that suggested a surge of muscle growth when people first start training that slows down quite quickly. I also read that people may be able to increase their muscle mass while losing weight when they have more weight to lose (and therefore more stored energy available for use). Muscle growth would then become harder, the more weight a person loses, if they kept restricting calories.
• It would be interesting to know if you can minimise muscle deterioration during weight loss by ensuring you maintain adequate protein intake.  

 Conclusion: 
Overall it seems that you will not be able to significantly increase muscle mass while restricting calories because your body needs access to abundant nutrients if it is going to build tissue. Building muscle requires a shift of focus and priorities from losing weight to improving strength and tone. I think this shift of focus naturally occurs as people get closer to their goal weight.

I'm a bit intimidated by the next phase of my journey. I've spent all this time restricting what I eat and trying to reduce the number on the scales. Now I'm getting to the point where I need to change things up, training and food wise. I know logically that eating more is a good thing and that weight gain is not necessarily a bad thing if it is due to increased muscle. But it's still a bit scary! At least I still have 4 weeks to get used to the idea.

I like seeking out and sharing accurate information, so hopefully you found this stuff helpful :).
I am thinking about writing some posts on protein and supplements in the near future. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions: creatinghealthykatie@gmail.com 

Yummy leftovers for lunch :)

Struggling

Arrgh! I don't know what is wrong with me lately. My resolve seems to have slipped dramatically and I really need to get my act together and get back on the straight and narrow.

Well it feels like I'm failing big time anyway. If I'm realistic with myself it hasn't been that bad. I was under my calories from Monday-Friday and Saturday I was only over by about 100 calories. I exercised 5 days and the only reason I didn't do 6 was because I had a migraine on Thursday. Looking at these facts it doesn't seem like there's much of a problem. But the problem is in my behaviour on Sunday (and a bit today) and the frame of mind that lead to it.

My birthday was supposed to be a once off deal. Eat whatever I want for one weekend and then get back to the healthy eating. But it's like those two days reignited all the bad habits I've been trying so hard to fight for the past 8 months.

I also don't think I realised how stressed and emotional I've been feeling lately. I'm really good at shutting things out when I have assignments/exams etc to do. I procrastinate so much that I end up having to put all my focus and energy into this one thing to get it done on time. There's been a lot going on lately on top of exams and now the exams are over and my mind is free to focus on whatever it wants, I now have to deal with the things I was blocking out. It's kind of similar to how I often get sick right after exams, but for my mind instead of my body.

I should have realised that something wasn't right. Just around exams I started biting my nails again after finally breaking the habit 5 years ago. It's not hard to see the link between stress, nail biting and binge eating. I think that other parts of my life have just been going so well lately that I wasn't realising how much the negative things were getting to me.

So I was in this fragile state of mind and the temptation just happened to be there. My step dad brought home cupcakes on Saturday. What was he thinking? No consideration for people who are trying to lose weight! Then on Sunday my boyfriend decides that we should take a drive to the mountains... and go to not one, but two lolly shops! I mentioned the other week what being surrounded by lollies does to me. Kid in a candy store anyone? And because these were specialty lolly shops, there were so many things I had never tried before (and therefore had to try). So I spent about $30 on lollies and could have spent a lot more! Then I spent Sunday afternoon and night bingeing on lollies and chocolate. I felt so sick and disgusting when I went to bed. Then I had to eat the rest today because I just needed it to be gone- not in the house anymore. Luckily there wasn't that much left.

It's almost like I'm a drug addict when it comes to sugar. I know sugar addiction and anti-sugar diets are all the rage at the moment, but I'm not totally convinced by that idea. I do know I've been using these kinds of food to deal with my emotions ever since I was a kid though, and that is a hard habit to break.

So there is no more stuff in the house and I'm not going to buy anything. I'm going to have to have a talk with other members of the family and tell them not to bring it into the house either, particularly while I'm feeling like this. Until now my willpower has actually been really good.

Anyhow, in regards to the 12WBT, I had my first gain at weigh-in last week. I kind of figured it would happen after the weekend I'd had, so I was prepared. A 400g gain is not too bad in light of a 15kg loss anyway! And I had lost that 400g plus some by Friday anyway. But after Sunday, I'm not sure what's going to happen this week. If I have another gain I will definitely be disappointed in myself. I had no excuses this week. It is also a mini-milestone week which means measurements need to be taken again. Really not the week I wanted to be off the rails.

I guess I just have to pick myself up, dust off the crumbs and make the remaining 5 weeks really count!

Until next time,

A slightly disheartened yet optimistic- Katie    

Maintenance- The Secret to Long-term Weight Loss

This is a post I've been meaning to write for a while, ever since one of my nutrition lectures opened my eyes to the 'facts' about weight loss. I was up extra early this morning. I've had breakfast, dressed, applied for 4 jobs and checked out week 8 for the 12WBT. Now I still have an hour until my gym class, so I figured now was the time to get writing. It's true what they say. A healthy diet and exercise really does give you more energy. Who would have thought?

So I will stop rambling and get to the point.

A few weeks ago I learnt a rather depressing fact: Almost everyone who loses weight will eventually put it back on. Apparently losing weight is the easy part. The hard part is maintaining the loss.

In America they actually have a registry for people who have lost at least 13kg and kept it off for over a year. Long-term weight loss is so rare that they want to keep track of and study the people who succeed in order to work out how they did it and what makes them different from the people that fail.

Here's what they have found out from people who have achieved long-term weight loss:

• 45% lost weight alone while 55% got help and support from a program. I think this just tells us that joining a program may help, but it is definitely not the deciding factor between success and failure. 
• 80% eat breakfast everyday. While the time of day that you eat ultimately doesn't make a lot of difference to weight loss, eating a healthy breakfast gets you off to a good start for the day and prevents you from bingeing or seeking out energy dense 'quick fixes' later in the day. 
• 75% weigh themselves at least once a week. While it is never good to obsess about the number on the scales, weighing yourself weekly is a good way to keep track of things, even after you have reached your goal. You are then able to notice small increases in your weight and make the necessary lifestyle modifications to get on top this before it becomes a big increase!
• The majority watch a lot less TV (less than 10 hours per week) than the national average. Watching TV is one of the most sedentary activities you can do, so chances are, if you are not watching TV, you are doing something less sedentary. You are probably not mindlessly snacking either! 
• 90% exercise, on average, for 1 hour per day. While diet is definitely the major factor in weight loss (you have to be very active for exercise to significantly impact your weight), exercise plays a big role in weight maintenance. Even when people do regain weight, those who are active do so at a much slower rate.

Overall, I'm not sure how useful this information is. I mean there's not really much information there that isn't common sense.

Ultimately I think we all know what the secret to permanent weight loss is, whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not. The answer is consistency; sticking with a healthy lifestyle for the long haul. 

Most people start on their weight loss journey looking for the 'quick fix' or the 'easy way'. For some people this might be a magic pill or miracle diet. For others it might involve a halfhearted attempt to be healthier. I spent years looking for the easy way to lose weight. I ate healthier, but didn't exercise. I joined a gym then never went. I tried the latest diet again and again. I even tried prescription medication, convincing myself that if a drug could help me lose the weight, the maintenance would be easy. After that last attempt I ended up bigger than I have ever been. I did all this despite all my nutrition education, which just goes to show, while educating yourself about health is important, it doesn't automatically lead to weight loss! 

It seems that the change and the success comes when you finally realise that it is not going to be easy and that it will not happen overnight. It did for me anyway. You need to stop looking for the quick fix and finally decide that you are willing to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes. Decide that this long term goal means more to you than any immediate gratification that comes from eating or drinking. When you become determined to do the hard work and to make a permanent change, you just do what it takes, and eventually it's not as hard as it was all those other times. You literally JFDI! 

The fact is, every diet will work if you follow it. Now, I'm not saying that every diet is healthy, because there are some shockers out there. But every diet will make you lose weight if you follow it, because every diet follows a few basic principles and ultimately they all involve calorie restriction through one means or another. 

But the most successful approach will always be to follow an eating plan that is not excessively restrictive, that suits your tastes and your lifestyle and that you can maintain in the long-term. Basically, if you are going to stick to something, it needs to be realistic.

We need to stop the hype with diets and start talking about healthy lifestyles. Diets don't work because they have a start and a finish. Even if you have enough willpower to eat only cabbage soup, or fast every second day, or go gluten, dairy and sugar free until you lose enough weight, there is still the mentality that "this will eventually be over and I can go back to eating normally". For successful weight loss, you need to adopt healthy habits and keep them for life. Sure, you can eat some more calories once you are no longer trying to lose weight and sure you might be able to relax a little bit, but if you relax too much, you will just end up back where you started.

It's hard, it takes time and it's a long-term commitment. But it is totally worth it. 

Thanks for reading :)

Katie. 

P.S. I bought a bikini when I was 16 that was about 3 sizes too small. I bought it to inspire me and motivate me to lose weight. Last night, 10 years later, I tried it on and it fits! Food will never make you feel that good. Trust me!          

Week 6 Overview and my Birthday Blowout

Hello there!

Week 6 of the 12WBT is over and done with, meaning we are half way there! Unfortunately this was the week where I kind of got off track and let things slip a bit. I think this finally happened after doing so well for so long because:

• I was very stressed/ distracted with exams and other things for the first part of the week so I wasn't really focusing on the healthy lifestyle thing. I was still 'doing' it, but I wasn't 'feeling' it or 'living' it if that makes any sense at all. I was on autopilot. 
• My mum came back from her overseas trip and suddenly all the organisation I'd achieved while she was gone fell apart. I was no longer solely in charge of shopping or deciding what was for dinner. Because everything now has to be pre-approved again and the shopping is never done in advance I'm finding it really hard to plan things. Very frustrating. I had a talk to mum and said that just because we can shop everyday doesn't mean we should, or that it's the best way to do things! Hopefully things will be better this week now she's out of holiday mode. 
• I only lost 0.1kg this week. I'm not too worried about this. I mean, obviously more is better, but being so close to my goal weight, I'm not expecting huge losses. I've also been extremely bloated this week. I was a bit disheartened by this weigh-in though because such a small loss meant I probably wouldn't reach my goal of getting below 60kg by my birthday. 
• When I gave up on reaching that goal by Sunday, I kind of unconsciously gave up on trying to restrain myself from eating too much over my birthday weekend. 

Surprisingly though, I'm not really beating myself up about this. Yes, I massively over-indulged, but I enjoyed some amazing food! And if you can't pig out on your birthday, when can you? So in the interest of confessing my sins and being totally honest, here's what I ate this weekend:

Saturday: 
The day was okay! I had a healthy 12WBT breakfast before the gym. Then I met my friend for coffee and had a skim cappuccino. Since I don't normally have snacks on treat meal Saturday and I knew the boyfriend was taking me out to dinner, I had an extra healthy lunch from Sumo Salad (only 206cals). That of course meant I was starving by dinner time and I succumbed to a creamy linguine dish with chicken, mushrooms, olives and semi-dried tomatoes because it was the special and sounded pretty yummy. It was yummy. At least I got full quite quickly and let Mr. Boyfriend finish off at least a third of it. He had promised me dessert as well, but instead we decided to raid the supermarket for snacks for the movies. DANGER, DANGER!
In the lolly aisle I go a bit crazy. I have a massive sweet tooth and I'm bad at making decisions, so I want everything! And then I am stuck with more lollies than I can eat in one movie, and my mentality turns into "I better eat them as quickly as possible, then they will be gone!". Cue a day of bingeing on lollies and chocolate.
So before the movie I ate a crunchy ice cream. That was pretty yummy I must say...
My boyfriend ate the other 5 in the packet luckily (yes, he is one of those annoying people that can eat literally 5 times as much as me and never put on weight!), so there was no more temptation.
In the movies I had some maltesers, some party mix lollies, some marshmallows and some sour skittles. I eventually stopped eating because I felt a bit sick :-/. 

Sunday: 

I didn't feel so great on Sunday morning. I think I had a sugar hangover! I had the least filling 12WBT breakfast I could think of (the breakfast crumble) because we were going out to lunch with my parents and some friends for my birthday.I decided to just enjoy myself and eat what I wanted to.
I had a chai latte before lunch and forgot to ask for skim milk. Oh well.
For lunch I had the most amazing lasagna I have ever tasted. I knew it couldn't possibly be healthy, but it was vegetarian at least! And again, I didn't eat all of it (normally I would have for something so delicous, so it's a little achievement at least). The boyfriend came to the rescue again.

  This is my slow-roasted tomato lasagna with nettle bechemel, topped with a dash of truffle oil- The portion that didn't end up in my belly at least!

I also had a few triple-cooked chips... because who can resist triple-cooked chips? 

After that I got a skim cappuccino, because it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was then bought a shot of black sambuca, because everyone has to have a birthday shot! I couldn't say no to that! 

Then came dessert... 

   This is my slow-cooked apple and pistachio crumble with semi-freddo (and a birthday candle).

Again, I did leave some of this for my bottomless pit of a boyfriend to eat. But I did have a taste of a scrumptious brownie. And I did have to taste each of the 5 ice-cream flavours in his mojo sundae. 

Needless to say, I was pretty stuffed after this lunch. But it was seriously the most amazing lunch I have ever had. 

I didn't have any dinner per-se, after all that. But I did spend the afternoon/evening in the "I have to eat the rest of the junk food in the house today, because tomorrow I'm going back to healthy eating". So my dinner consisted of marshmallows, lollies, chocolate, chips and a cup of tea. But like I said, part of the fun of birthdays is not having to worry about 'being good'. And I'm not getting down about this, because I already agreed with myself that I was willing to deal with any consequences on Monday. And I had the most lovely birthday :). 

 Some of my presents- <3 my new Lorna Jane hoodie and my awesome Polk audio sport ear phones.

Amazing moon on my birthday too- Biggest full moon of the year. I felt special ;)

Week 6 Exercise:

I only managed 4 days of exercise again this week due to exams. But they were pretty decent workouts at least! I seem to be burning more calories all of a sudden. I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining! 

Monday: 45 minute pump class plus abs (486 cals).

Tuesday: Exam in the morning and then had to pack up and move out of the place I was house-sitting, then get back to study, so no exercise today. I did get in a decent half hour of walking though. My exam location was at the far end of my uni, as far as possible from the tram stop! 

Wednesday: Another exam, so I did get to do a half hour walk again! But no workout. I honestly just wanted to chill out after exams! 

Thursday: Back to exercise! Did the prescribed 12WBT gym machines cardio workout and burnt 800 calories! I couldn't believe it. My best result ever, in only 70 minutes! Told you I'd started burning more calories.  

Friday: 60 minute pump class (385 cals).
Saturday: After my success with the cardio workout on Thursday, I decided to do the week 7 one for my Super Saturday Session. I didn't get to finish the last part of the workout, because I was running late to meet my  friend, but I did get 70 minutes in and burnt 700 calories. I swear the rolling treadmill intervals nearly killed me... or nearly made me pass out at least! The last minute, running at 10km/ph with 9% incline, was torture!

I was meant to do 20 minutes worth of planking this week... but I actually just forgot because I was so pre-occupied. I did 5 minutes on Thursday, but that was it. It's all good though, I'm pretty good at planking (I'm almost at 3 minutes), so I think I'll be right!

What's on for Week 7?  

This week I'm getting strict. No going over on my calories, even on treat meal Saturday, and I'm going to do all my workouts! 

In case you were wondering, I had gained 1.5kg this morning after my weekend of being a fatty. This just makes me determined to get things right from now on. There are no more celebrations in the near future to use as an excuse. I'm hoping that I don't have to record a gain this Wednesday, but if I do, I do. I did an extra-long workout this morning to try to compensate a little bit! 

The challenge this week is to do 1,500 tricep dips. I'm pretty good at tricep dips, but this sounds like a lot! I did 50 this morning, so we'll see how I go! 

Week 5 Review- What I remember anyway!

I am back! My last exam was this afternoon, so now I have 3 weeks to do whatever I please :).

I may as well do my write-up of the 12WBT week 5 now, even though we are well into week 6.

To be honest, week 5 is a bit of a blur. When exam time comes I go into "study mode", as I like to call it. I pretty much lose touch with the rest of the world for a while. My life consists of sleep-eat-study-repeat. This time I tried to get a bit of exercise in there too!

Weigh in:
I lost .5kg this week, which is pretty decent! Puts me only .7kg away from my goal of being under 60kg by my birthday (June 23rd).

Exercise:
Keeping a record of all my food and exercise on My Fitness Pal really helps jog my memory!

Monday: Body pump and CX-works. I'm getting ripped as! 515 calories.

Tuesday: RPM class. 409 calories.

Wednesday: Had to miss my body balance class and go to a compulsory employment appointment :(. A bit of relaxation would have come in handy this week too! This meant I didn't have time for a workout. As a chronic procrastinator, my study time is very precious in the week prior to exams!

Thursday: Decided to try one of the 12WBT 'Gym Machines' cardio workouts. All I can say is Wow! I really enjoyed it coz it was varied, with jogging, rowing, sprints and biking, and it really made me work! 664 calories later (that's a lot for me!). 

Friday: Normally I would do a strength workout on the gym machines today, but because I was pushed for time and because my head was full and I didn't want to force it to think anymore, I did another pump class. 430 calories.

Saturday: No SSS for me this week. I had to pick my parents up from the airport first thing in the morning. By the time I got home it was time for food shopping and (you guessed it) study.

Overall, my exercise regime wasn't too bad this week considering. Still got in 4 decent workouts!

Food:
I must say, having an eating plan really helped this week. Knowing what I was eating for each meal and what I had to buy meant one less thing to think about. I stuck to the plan pretty consistently. I was distracted by study, which meant I wasn't thinking about eating in the evenings so much like I normally do when I'm just watching TV or something.
I did blow it a little bit on treat meal Saturday though. After an especially stressful week I was particularly craving dessert. I bought some apple strudel and custard and ate it til I was stuffed. Luckily it doesn't take too much to make me feel stuffed nowadays. I would have kept going if it wasn't for that unpleasant overly-full feeling! I was about 400 calories over my limit for the day. Not great, but it could have been worse!
I was back on track Sunday, but I tell you, the left over strudel kept calling to me and I was so tempted. It took a lot of willpower to say no. And while I did say no, I was disappointed in myself. It felt like the old habits and the old me were fighting to return. I thought I had gotten over these temptations and it wasn't a challenge for me anymore. I guess under severe stress the habit of using food as a comfort is still there.

Weekly Challenge:
I actually had to check the website to remind myself what last week's challenge was. That's how 'with it' I was last week.
Anyway, the challenge was to go to bed early. While I wasn't actually consciously aware of the challenge, I definitely succeeded. I've been making an effort to go to bed early for a while now. It's not too difficult. Regular exercise makes me want to get up early and go to bed earlier. I have always been a shocking sleeper though, and unfortunately it hasn't helped with that. I do have more energy though, so it doesn't get to me so much.

The challenge for week 6 is to do 20 minutes worth of planking. It's Wednesday now and I still haven't started on this one, so I better get to it!

Coming up:

Now that I'm not so preoccupied by assignments and exams I'm going to write some more interesting posts. I've learnt a lot of great stuff in nutrition this semester that I'd really like to share with anyone who wants to know. 

If anyone is reading this, I really encourage you to comment as well! I can see that I have page views but I would really love to know what people think.

If there's anything you would be interested in knowing/reading about in regards to my weight loss journey in particular or anything else to do with health, nutrition, weight loss or behaviour change, feel free to ask! I have a lot of personal experience, I am only one subject away from completing a health science degree, plus I have a personal trainer for a boyfriend! You're in pretty good hands.

Comment or e-mail me: creatinghealthykatie@gmail.com 

12WBT Week 4 Review

12WBT- Week 4 Review 

Weigh in:

Week 4 was mini-milestone week, which meant that on top of weighing in, we had to redo our measurements and fitness test as well. I was looking forward to this because I have been a bit disappointed with my losses so far and wanted to see what the tape measure had to say! I actually bothered to calculated my calorie deficit at the end of week 3, and worked out that based on maintenance calories of 2000 per day, I should at least lose 1kg in week 4. But weight loss is not as predictable as that, so I wasn't holding my breath. 

Come weigh-in day and I lost 1.1kg! I was so happy with that! It puts me only 1.2kg away from my original goal of being below 60kg by my birthday, and my birthday is in 2 weeks. Will I make it?

I've also lost 11cm in the past 4 weeks:

• 2cm from my chest
• 4cm from my waist (I finally have a waist circumference in the 'healthy' range!)
• 1cm from my hips
• 2cm from each arm (at first I thought my arms hadn't changed, so I was sad, as this is one of the hardest places for me to lose weight, but then I got my boyfriend to redo the measurements and they were smaller!)
• 2cm from each thigh 

I also improved on my fitness test:

• 1km time trial: 4 seconds faster  (4.46 to 4.42)
• Sit and reach: 1cm further (3cm to 4cm... I really need to work on my flexibility!)
• Wall sit: 29 seconds longer (1.32 to 2.01)
• Pushups in 1minute: Same amount as last time (35), but I doubled the amount I did on my toes (7 to 15) 
• Ab Strength (plank): 41 seconds longer (2.00 to 2.41) 

Overall, I'm really pleased with the progress I've made over the past 4 weeks. 

Exercise:

Monday: Body pump and CX-works. Increased my weights :). It's funny, I used to hate body pump, now I'm loving it!

Tuesday: RPM. It's funny. I'm working just as hard, if not harder in this class, but finding that I'm not burning as many calories. I used to burn at least 400, but now it's down to about 350. I guess that's what happens with improved fitness and weight loss!

Wednesday: Body balance and 12WBT fitness test. I really love Body balance! I was so uncoordinated to begin with, but now I'm getting the hang of it. It's challenging but relaxing at the same time.

Thursday: Nothing. There's no good classes on at the gym on Thursday, and I'm sick of doing the workout videos, so I find Thursday the hardest day to get motivated to work out. Plus I have so much study to do at the moment, and that study has taught me that for exercise to have a significant effect on weight loss, you have to do a lot of it (at least an hour a day). For this reason, I am feeling a bit less obsessive about sticking to my 6 days of exercise, especially since I had my biggest loss after taking the whole weekend off! I will aim for at least 5 days, if I do 6, all the better. I might try a cardio based gym machines workout next Thursday.  

Friday: Strength workout at the gym plus 20 mins of cardio. Really enjoyed this workout. I'm liking strength training more and more. Especially now I can see how toned I am getting!

Saturday: I did the 12WBT week 5 SSS at the gym. I struggle working out what to do for my SSS each week. Since my gym is so big (with cardio and weights in different areas), the previous gym SSS programs have been a bit inconvenient to do, so I have just been doing home workouts based on the workout videos, running and a bit of toning. I was getting very sick of that, so when I saw that the week 5 SSS would be very easy to do in the women's only section of my gym, I was excited. This was my best SSS ever! 750 calories! I had to go for a bit longer to get to that number, and I was sweating like anything and struggling towards the end, but I really enjoyed myself!

Food:

My food was pretty spot-on again. Even on Saturday, after my huge SSS! I planned my meals again for Saturday, and this time I didn't go over my 1200 calories at all! And I even had cheesecake! 

I don't know if it's been the meals I've made this week, or if my stomach is shrinking, but I've found myself getting full a bit. This is the first week that I have experienced feeling full while following the 12WBT. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not! 

The challenge for this week was to try different foods. I didn't really attempt this challenge. I grew up with a hugely varied diet (kids at school often thought the contents of my lunch box was weird). I've tried a lot of things, and I like a lot of things. The few things I don't like, it's because I've actually tasted them. Plus I've been cooking for my boyfriend this week, so I had to make sure I was catering to his tastes as well. 

Week 4 completed and I'm still going strong and really enjoying myself :). 

Weird things about weight loss #1

Now, I'm sure nobody really wants to hear about my hair removal habits, but I noticed something interesting this morning, so bare with me. 

I shave my underarms in the shower pretty much every day, so there's never really any hair there.

The other day I was looking in the mirror & I noticed a patch of hair that I must have missed. I made a mental note to get rid of it next time & forgot about it. 

This morning in the shower I was shaving away, as usual, when I caught a glimpse of the patch of hair. When I took a second look, I didn't see it at first, until I started investigating. Then I found it, on the inside of my underarm, invisible from my perspective unless I was looking for it. "Weird", I thought, "I can normally see under there perfectly fine!" 

Then I tried to shave the patch of hair (which was actually getting quite long) and it was really difficult to maneuver the razor to the right spot, plus I couldn't actually see!

Then it clicked! My underarms have lost weight! Before there was all this fat there to fill in the cavity. Now it's disappearing and I can't see all the way under my arm anymore! 

I guess I'll have to take more care when shaving from now on! 

12WBT Week 3 Recap- Better late than never!

Weigh in

I lost 0.3kg this week. I was a little disappointed because I have been following the plan so closely (besides my over-indulgences on a Saturday night). But, a loss is a loss, so I am happy with that. It helps that I can see quite obvious increases in muscle now, and since I don't have a lot more weight to lose, the increase in muscle could definitely be affecting my numbers.

Exercise and step-up challenge

Monday: Pump class followed by a CX-Works class
Tuesday: RPM class
Wednesday: Body Balance class in the morning and my last session as a guinea pig for my soon-to-be PT boyfriend in the arvo. He told me my balance is shocking. I told him that's what the Body Balance classes are for!
Thursday: I slept in and woke up all sleepy and achy, then just didn't get round to a workout. I was feeling a bit guilty because I haven't missed a workout yet, and I read a post on the 12WBT Facebook page saying that tonight we should go for a walk after dinner instead of watching T.V. It was pouring with rain, so that was not an option, but having realised it was already Thursday and I had only done about 50 out of my 800 step-ups for the week I decided to get some done. I used our knee-high coffee table (with no shoes!), so it was quite challenging. I did about 100, and then realising that it got my heart rate up as much as any other workout, I decided to keep going, since I hadn't done a workout and all! Once I started I was like a machine, I just kept going and going... For an hour, until I had done 750 step-ups and completed my challenge of 800 for the week. Exhausted and sweating like anything, I had a shower, a cuppa and went to bed soon after. No T.V for me!
Friday: I was expecting to be sore after my hard-core step-up workout the night before, but all I felt was a slight ache in my calves. I did a strength based workout at the gym.
Saturday: The muscle pain appeared with a vengeance! I guess that's why they call it delayed onset muscle soreness. I'm guessing the added leg work on Friday didn't help either. I woke up in agony. I literally could not walk, other than some weird zombie-like shuffle that didn't involve bending my knees. The whole back of my legs, from ankle to butt was feeling it! I decided it was probably best not to exercise in this state. I wondered if I was making excuses, and did feel a bit guilty, especially when someone suggested I could do swimming instead (swimming just is not my thing!). Oh well, your body needs to rest at some point, and there's really no better excuse than "I can't exercise because I'm so sore from exercising so hard". I decided I would do some kind of exercise on Sunday instead and borrowed my boyfriend's foam roller for the evening, in an attempt to maybe massage away some of the pain!
Sunday: Woke up again without the ability to walk. So much for exercising. I decided a weekend of rest was what I needed, and I would get back to it first thing Monday, pain or no pain. Plus I did two workouts on Wednesday, so that was my justification!

Food

Again, I didn't have a lot of trouble sticking to the meal plan. I've found myself customising the menu more and more as I discover recipes that I really enjoy. I find it easiest to just repeat a few of my favorite breakfasts and lunches during the week (unless there's something new that sounds really yummy on the plan). This also means I don't have to buy as much food that might end up getting wasted as well. I do like trying different dinners each night though. I only swap ones that I'm really not keen on for ones I know I like.

And what about my treat meal this week? I'm sure everyone is dying to hear.
This week I planned out my menu for Saturday, instead of just having a set breakfast, a vague direction of "leftovers for lunch" and no specified dinner. This helped a lot. I knew exactly what I was eating for the day, and all my meals were calorie controlled. I decided to make the 12wbt Apple Tart (only 156 calories!) for dessert and bought some custard to go with it. A lot better than apple pie and ice cream!
I must admit I did have a few of the pieces of baked sweet potato that I made for my boyfriend to go with his meal (they just looked so delicious!). I also added some mixed berries to my dessert and had a cup of tea with it. But, even with these sneaky additions, I was only 100 calories over my daily limit. A lot better than the thousand-odd from the last two Saturdays!

I'm not sure if the fact that I didn't exercise this week helped me have better control over my eating, or if it was the planning or both. It is Saturday of week 4 as I write this, and I did a whopping SSS today (my best ever!), so I will be able to comment on this after tonight I guess.

So, week 5 starts next week (it's going so quickly!), so hopefully I will write up my week 4 summary tomorrow. On time! But for now, back to studying for exams.     

More motivation in the form of clothes!

Just a quick post for now. I'm going to write a longer one about my 12wbt progress soon, but I've been a bit short of time lately. I have exams coming up, so I'm studying like crazy. Plus my parents are overseas putting me in charge of cooking/cleaning/walking doggies. And my boyfriend is living here while they are gone and he likes distracting me. And Centrelink has decided I need to be looking for jobs RIGHT NOW and attend all these appointments! Then I'm trying to exercise for an hour a day on top of that... So a bit stressed! 

But just thought I would post about what made me happy this morning: 

This is a size 8 hoodie that someone left at our house ages ago. I remember trying it on last year (curious coz I've never been a size 8) and being happy that I could just zip it up (I think it must be a big size 8). 

Curious again, I tried it on today and now look! It's gone from very fitted to baggy! 

It's easy to lose sight of how far you've actually come when you haven't yet reached the destination. But tangible evidence like this really gives you the boost you need and the motivation to keep going :). 

More new/old clothes to wear!

This top hasn't fit me for over two years, and even then it was a lot tighter! 

This weight loss thing is starting to be fun :). 

Discovered another milestone!

My younger brother has always been skinny and did his fair share of teasing me about my weight when we were younger. 

Today I discovered I weigh less than him for the first time in our lives! He discovered he should probably start lifting, because 63kg is not a lot for a 183cm 24 year old! 

I also wanted to share my dinner from this evening because it was so scrumptious! 

Basil & Walnut Pesto Spaghetti with Roast Pumpkin & Tomato

Only 300 calories! 

Who said healthy couldn't be yummy as well? 

12WBT week 2 review

12 Week Body Transformation: Week 2 Review

Weight Loss

I lost 0.4kg at weigh in this week. I was expecting a bit more, but that's still pretty decent, so I'm not complaining! I can see that my body is starting to look more toned, so I'm happy with that.

Water Goal
I managed to drink more water, which I was pleased with. It seems that if I fill up a drink bottle and tell myself I have to get through it twice I have more success than if I was drinking glasses of water or cups of herbal tea.

Exercise

I was not quite as exhausted from the workouts this week. I did wake up on Saturday thinking 'I really can't be bothered doing the SSS today" and did think of a few ways (excuses) to get myself out of it. But a funny thing seems to have happened since I started exercising regularly. In the past, with my other feeble exercise attempts, I would go to bed with the full intention of exercising in the morning, but when I woke up it would rarely happen. As soon as it was too cold or I was still tired or just didn't want to, I would bail. But now, on the rare occasions where I do wake up thinking "I just don't want to today", my mind will start thinking of counterarguments against itself for why I should just get up and get it over with. It's the weirdest thing, because the excuses that used to stop me still occur (though a lot less frequently), but now I just seem to almost automatically disregard them. Excuses can't bring me down anymore!
So I told myself that I wasn't allowed to have breakfast  until I did my Super Saturday Session, and boy did I earn it! I could barely function towards the end and was doing the beginner version of some of the exercises (where I would normally do the intermediate or advanced) and not doing them at all if they required me to get on the ground (burpees, mountain climbers etc), but I managed to burn 700 calories in just under 90 minutes. That's my record calorie burn so far! Breakfast tasted so good after that! Rest day on Sunday never felt so good either.

Food

My food, for the most part was spot on again. Except for Saturday night, again. I really blew it with Red Rooster and TWO desserts. That's right, two. I couldn't decide, so I had cheesecake and pie. And I felt like a giant pig afterwards. I started thinking about why this has happened to me both weeks so far, so I can try to find some strategies to gain some control. I think there are a few reasons:

• I spend Saturday nights with my boyfriend (who eats A LOT, but gets away with it), so it has just sort of become the one time in the week where I stop worrying about calories. 
• Having done a huge workout Saturday morning and skipped snacks in order to allow myself a treat meal, I am starving by dinner time. 
• Not only am I really hungry, but Saturday night is the one night where our meals aren't planned for us, and following a plan all week means there is not really any other food in the house. So it gets to about 5.30 and no one has planned anything for dinner and there's nothing to eat in the house. I'm so hungry that I don't even want to think about cooking, I want food NOW. That means fast food or take away. 
• My intention had been to have a healthy dinner and then have dessert. That idea was blown out the window by my high calorie dinner, but I had been craving dessert, and a day spent starving makes that craving even worse. 
• When I get to a certain point of hunger, cravings get the best of me. It's like all my sense is gone. I get a bit 'all or nothing'. I feel like I better eat whatever I can now, because it's my last chance. Come tomorrow, it's back on the straight and narrow. 

Pretty much, I think all those things are contributing to my crazy, unstoppable eating on Saturday night. Luckily my stomach isn't as big as it used to be, so I can't physically eat as much. I could just say "oh well" I guess. I work hard all week, I should get one night off. To a certain extent that's true. But I still think I'm being too excessive. I end up feeling stuffed, bloated and guilty. So it can't be good! And I want to get the most out of the 12WBT.
To avoid this happening again, this will be my plan of action:

1. Plan Saturday's dinner ahead of time so you won't be tempted by fast food and take away at the last minute. 
2. If you want dessert, plan that as well, and find calorie controlled alternatives. 
3. Be aware of your thoughts. Dispel untrue beliefs such as "I better eat it or I won't have another chance". 
4. If this doesn't work/ the hunger from not snacking is too much, consider moving your treat meal to Sunday. You will not be as hungry during the day because you are not exercising, so you will be able to control yourself more. 

Push-up Challenge: 300 push-ups in a week

I got off to a good start with this challenge, doing 50 push-ups (on my toes!) each evening from Monday-Thursday. I can do around 20 in a row now! Pretty good, since I could only do 7 a few weeks ago. By Thursday my shoulders were aching a bit and my boyfriend got me a bit worried saying I shouldn't be doing so many push-ups (chest work) without counterbalancing it with back work. This is apparently especially important because I have rounded shoulders, meaning I should be working on my back more. I figured it should be okay though, since it's only for a week. I forgot to do my 50 push-ups on Friday and on Saturday I did 10, but my shoulders felt a bit sore and clicky, so I stopped. That meant I had 90 to do on Sunday! I completely forgot about it until 10pm last night, but I got them done. Mission accomplished! 

Week 3 and Beyond 

This weeks challenge (for intermediates) is 800 step-ups in a week. I've never done step-ups before, but coincidentally we happened to do some in my pump class today. So now I know what I'm doing, I just have to find an appropriate step or bench at home, or do them at the gym. I'm not the most coordinated person, so I think this might be a bit more challenging than push-ups. 

I've been good with everything else so far, so my main goal for week 3 is to overcome the Saturday night binge.

I think we do our measurements again in week 4. We are also meant to come up with a mini-milestone... Something to accomplish in week 4. I'll have to give it some thought this week. 

Until next time :)  

Yay!

I was so excited that I had to document this moment and provide photographic evidence!

I bought these jeans about 2 years ago without trying them on, but they were WAY too tight. They barely fit my calves, led alone being able to do them up. I kept them in the hope that I would fit into them one day and today is that day!!!

Week 1 done! Onto week 2.

I'm very pleased to announce that my first week of the 12WBT was extremely successful. I was spot on with the eating plan and I worked out 6 days (twice on Wednesday because I agreed to be a test subject for my soon-to-be personal trainer boyfriend).

The exercise was really what I found the hardest, which surprised me. I'm used to working out 5 days a week, so I didn't think 1 extra day would make much difference. But it did! I don't know if I was maybe going harder than normal, but I tell you, by Friday I was struggling! And that's followed by Super Saturday where I'm supposed to burn 1000 calories! Are you kidding?!? I got close to 600, and that was enough for me. The less you weigh, the less calories you burn with exercise, so 1000 was a little unrealistic, especially considering how exhausted I was.

Saturday is also treat meal day, where you save up your snack calories and put them towards dinner. I went a little overboard here! We went out for Thai food and then I was REALLY craving apple pie... So I had some. Needless to say, I was well over my 1200 calorie limit, but I worked damn hard for that food!

Sunday I was back on track, and feeling a little guilty about my indulgences from the previous night. I am trying to only weigh myself once a week while on this program, because it's easy to get obsessive about a stupid number. But I must admit, I had a sneak peak on Sunday morning. Just to check I hadn't completely blown it. I had not! In fact, I was pleasantly surprised! Bring on Wednesday and weigh-in!

On Sunday night I think the universe was definitely testing me. My step-dad came home with a huge packet of Maltesers (my weakness) and a cheesecake. Then I went to a Tupperware party that just happened to be chocolate themed! More Maltesers! And the demonstration involved making Toblerone dip, which is as unhealthy as it sounds. Literally melted Toblerone mixed with cream. Then came out the dipping implements... strawberries, marshmallows, biscuits. I was reassured that any food consumed at a Tupperware party contained zero calories, but I was not convinced. I limited myself to 2 strawberries and 2 marshmallows with dip. Luckily I hadn't had any snacks all day! Quite proud of my restraint.

So week 2 started today and I'm on track. I was still very sore and tired this morning, even after a rest day, but I dragged myself to the gym. I even got over my fear of the gym machines and did my strength session on them! It helped that my gym has a 'women only' room. And tonight I feel great!

Overall the food is good. Some of it is a bit dry, probably due to the lack of calories! But this bothers my mum more than me. She wants to customise our plan a bit this week, to avoid things she doesn't like the sound of (she had quite a negative reaction to being told what to eat last week!). I'm not that keen to customise (unless it's pork or seafood!), because it is discouraged and because it makes things less straight forward. So I've told her she can be in charge of the planning if she wants to do that. And she's cooking anything she changes!

Last week was very successful, so the only things I really want to improve on this week are:

• Drinking more water. I need to make more effort to get to 2 liters a day.
• Not going SO over the top with my treat meal. Dessert is what  I love the most, so I might stick to a healthier dinner on Saturday so I can fit dessert into my calorie allowance. I'll have a look at the desserts on the 12WBT website, since they have a lot less calories than apple pie!  

This week's challenge is to do 300 push-ups, not including ones that are part of our workouts. This challenge sounded hideous to me at first because I really hate push-ups! But it's really only 50 a day for 6 days. The intermediate people (which is me) only have to do them on their knees, but I took up the challenge of doing them on my toes. I did my first 50 this evening (in lots of 10) and it wasn't so bad. I am definitely getting stronger (probably from all the Pump classes) and they aren't quite so torturous anymore. Well, I can do 10 instead of 1-2 now. Progress! 

First weigh in

I'm pretty pleased this morning! Had my first weekly weigh in for the 12WBT and I've lost .8kg in just 2 days! Diet and exercise people... It works!

So now I've lost 12.1kg in total and I'm less than 5kg away from my goal weight.

I'm kind of walking on sunshine (lame, but true) because now, every number I see on the scales is a number I've never seen before in any of my previous attempts to lose weight.

It is also entirely possible that I will reach the goal I set myself back in November last year; to get below 60kg by my 26th birthday at the end of June. I had kind of given up on making it by then, but now I think I just might do it!

So stoked :).

First day

First day of the 12WBT done and dusted and I'm super happy!

I burnt almost 500 calories at the gym and thoroughly enjoyed today's food. Off to a good start!

But I did hurt my back in pump class today and have been walking funny all day :(. It feels a bit better now though, so hopefully I'll be all good for RPM tomorrow. Not a fan of being held back by injuries!

I also wanted to mention how proud I am of my mum. She's didn't have any alcohol tonight and she loves her wine! I can't remember the last time she had an alcohol free day, even though I bug her a lot, so this is huge! She's finally got some determination and drive to improve her health, and the 12WBT seems to have played a role in that. She's decided that if her calories are limited, it is more important to use her snack calories on nutritious food rather than wasting them on alcohol. Smart choice.

I am glad I joined the 12WBT already and I'm so pumped for the rest of it!

Now I'm going to take some more of Michelle's advice and try going to bed early. My Bircher muesli is brewing in the fridge for breakfast and my leftover soup is packed away for lunch. It's a nice, relaxing feeling, being organised.

12WBT here we go!

The (my) 12 week body transformation starts tomorrow!
I'm pretty excited because, if everything goes as planned, I will have reached my goal weight within the next 3 months. Never thought I'd see the day!
I'm a bit nervous too. I guess I just don't want to fail. I've got a pretty bad track record in that regard, when it comes to weight loss. But I guess the 11kg that I've lost prove I must be doing something right this time (healthy diet and exercise perhaps?).

I think the nerves are getting to me tonight coz I've kind of over-indulged the last 2 weekends, with the boyfriend's birthday and then Mother's Day. I haven't gained weight or anything because of it (hopefully a sign that my metabolism has improved), but it gives me doubts about whether I can actually stick to the food plan for 12 weeks. It's funny how I always thought exercise was my problem, but now that it's become a habit, I don't even worry about having to stick to that. The real problem has always been food, and it's the biggest challenge, even though I've come so far.

But despite the doubts, and all the pancakes and chocolate and cupcakes I ate today, I do still have my determination to succeed. I believe I can do this. When I have self-doubt, or a bad day, I just have to remember how far I've come and how it's so worth it.

In fact, I had a HUGE milestone last week that I almost forgot about, what with falling off the wagon and all!

Last week I hit the 63s!

Kilograms that is.

'Why is this such a big milestone?' you may ask. Because I have lost weight before, but I have never seen a figure below 64kg since... The first time I was ever this weight! And I have not been this weight since I was probably 12 or 13. So it's a big deal!

I am doing great. I should stop punishing myself over a little blow out, because the next 12 weeks will more than make up for it.

Tomorrow I will get up, eat and live healthily, go to bed, and repeat. Bring on the 12WBT!

Lunch

To continue on the inventive streak (due to a lack of desire to go shopping) this is today's lunch:

LENTIL, GRILLED EGGPLANT AND PINE NUT SALAD with a Greek yoghurt dressing.

Kj: 1050 (251cal) Carbs: 21g Protein: 15g Fat: 12g


It was a little bit bland, so I'll have to try and add some more flavour if I make it again, but otherwise good. And definitely healthy!

Getting inventive

I'm getting my act together again!

For around a month I have been trying out intermittent fasting, where I would fast for 24 hours twice a week. It seems to have been really working for me; it quickly got me over my first plateau and I've lost around 4kg since I started it. It also made me slightly more relaxed with food, not having to worry so obsessively about calories on the non-fast days!

Unfortunately I think I'll have to stop doing it for the time being. I only get 1200 calories a day on the 12wbt and I shouldn't be eating less than that overall. Plus I can't imagine doing a hard workout without food! I also think that having to be consistently good with my food from day to day will be good for me, as it's something that I've struggled with.

So I've been getting pumped for the start of the 12wbt, going all out in my workouts and getting strict with my food again for the past few days.

Tonight I was tested. The parents went out for dinner. My brother comes in and says to me, "There's steak and some sausages we can have for dinner. I want steak". I tell him I don't eat sausages and there's enough steak for both of us since I only need 100g. When I go into the kitchen to cook my dinner I see what he's left me... A tiny bit of steak that's practically all fat. Basically the scraps I would cut off my meat! Are all brothers so selfish? So I had to get inventive with the (extremely limited) food we had in the house and create myself a healthy meal. I actually have fun doing this, so it wasn't so bad! I like setting myself calorie targets and then trying to get as close as I can to test myself.

This is what I came up with:

MEXICAN STYLE SWEET POTATO MASH with green beans

Kj: 1,623 (388cal) Carbs: 53g Protein: 18g Fat: 11g

I often get my mum to try and guess the kilojoules when I make meals, because while she generally eats healthily, she tends to underestimate how quickly things can add up. And when you're trying to lose weight, this knowledge is important!
She guessed 1,200kj for this meal because it's deceptively small. But the cheese and sour cream will do it every time! Even when they're low fat and portion controlled. You just have to decide if it's worth it.

Tonight it totally was! But only because I have been good today and had enough calories left over ;).

Really pushed myself today

Today I feel great! It's like I've come back refreshed and raring to go after a slight lapse in the past week or so.

It's funny how both times I've hit a major milestone (running 5km and now losing 10kg) I kind of lose my focus a bit and start thinking "well, now what?". You would think that the success would be an extra motivator to spur you on, but for me it feels like a slump. I've worked so hard and have been looking forward to reaching the goal, but then I do reach it and I feel awesome... until I start thinking about the next goal. It's like starting at the beginning all over again I guess, knowing you have to make more changes and work even harder. And the confusion about what these changes should be, food and exercise wise, just makes it worse. So instead of deciding what to do next I just do nothing... Sitting in the glory of my latest achievement for just a tad longer!

I guess that's why I thought the 12wbt would be good for me. This way I will always know the next step to take to push myself to the next level.

I'm not sure why, but as I said, I feel great today! And full of determination again. I'm thinking it might have something to do with posting my progress picture. It made me look at my ultimate goal again and see the 10kg loss for what it was, progress, but not the complete journey. I like to put everything I have into my latest short-term goal, but when I start isolating them too much I lose track of the bigger picture. There is still a lot more to do and now is not the time to start slacking off!

The 5th 12wbt preseason task was released today, but I couldn't really do it. Which I'm kinda proud of actually. We were meant to throw all our rubbish food in the rubbish (where it belongs), but I actually didn't really have any of these kinds of foods in my house. This is probably because I've already taken steps to be healthier (eg. Eliminated sweetened beverages), plus a combination of my nutrition education and my upbringing I would say. That's definitely one thing I can thank my parents for. I might have felt deprived with my brown bread and watered down juice when all the other kids had chips/ roll-ups/ soft drink/ fruit loops etc, but I am so grateful now for the healthy, varied diet I was brought up with.

The main problem I face is having tempting foods brought home by a family member as I don't have the authority to throw it out! But luckily this doesn't happen too often and we don't really share the same taste in junk food. I just have to watch out when my stepdad arrives home bearing armfuls of ice creams because the work fridge has malfunctioned again!

So instead of completing today's task, I challenged myself in another way. At the gym. For 2 hours! Normally my workouts don't exceed 45 minutes, so when I saw that the Saturday Sessions on the 12wbt can be up to 2 hours and that I should burn 1000 calories (my usual is 300-500) it did freak me out a little bit. So I tested myself today with a pump class followed by a CX-Works class and then 30 minutes of cardio. Almost burnt 700 calories, which is not bad considering most of if was strength training. Needless to say, not quite so daunted by the prospect of a 2 hour workout now!

P.S. I'm sure the exercise also added to me feeling so excellent today.

P.P.S. 1000 steps tomorrow! Will finally get to test their calorie burning powers.

P.P.P.S. I really love my heart rate monitor :-P.