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!