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 :)