Are You Serious!?!

Before we headed over to the in-laws for dinner, I thought I would quickly do my 1km time trial for my first fitness test.  I did all of the other parts of the test last night and this was the only one I had left to do.

Unlike last round's fitness tests, I now have a 'legitimate' track - one that is already marked out at 500m - meaning no more calculations with google maps! All of my runs from now on will be the same length.

Now, you are probably confused by the title of this post, but I need to just say again:

Are You Serious!?!

I can't believe I am about to tell you all this, but I ran (mostly) 1km in 7 minutes 26 seconds!!!!  That means that I am in the intermediate category!!!

I am so surprised as I thought that I would have lost all of my fitness during my "mopey off season"!

The results of the other portions of my test are as follows:

• Push ups: 35 on knees
• Sit and reach: +3cm
• Ab test: 0 (totally as expected)
• Wall sit: 17 seconds

These are all worse than my last fitness test results, however other than the ab test, they are all better than my first fitness test last round - which I count as a positive!!

So, I'm off now to check out the intermediate exercise section on the 12wbt site!!

 

Task 8: Measure Up

Ok... so now we are up to the final task... what I have been putting off doing since week 11 of the last round... measurements...

So, I spose I should just get straight into it!!

Week 1
Saturday 11 February

		Change	Total Loss
Weight:	tbc	n/a	n/a
R Arm:	29.5cm	n/a	n/a
L Arm:	30.5cm	n/a	n/a
Bust:	114cm	n/a	n/a
Waist:	124cm	n/a	n/a
Hips:	125cm	n/a	n/a
R Thigh:	71cm	n/a	n/a
L Thigh:	70.5cm	n/a	n/a

So, the measurements were as expected. When I weigh in tomorrow morning I will update it and will probable also put in my body fat % as well.

I just had B take my before photo... looks about the same as last round one... so glad no one else gets to see that one!!

I am planning on doing my fitness test time trial tomorrow morning before I have to go to work... to be honest, it's probably the only time I will get to do it.

Task 7: Organise & Diarise

Ok... here we are!

This is my favourite part of the pre season tasks - planning!!

Luckily for me, I have had my upcoming schedule booked in for a couple of weeks now as I am now at uni and definitely need to plan my life to avoid catastrophe!

I have created a pic of my schedule (below) - please try not to be scared (as I am!!) at how full it is.  I have had to fit in uni, work and my workouts into my week as well as taking some time out for me (saturday mornings).  It all looks a little chaotic, but I really hope that it's doable.  I have spent every moment of my free time in the last week dedicated to studying and I'm not yet where I would like to be! Hopefully the exercise and healthier foods will help my concentration levels!

To keep it simple, basically all of the purple are my workouts :)

Milestones

So, another part of this task is to come up with a 4, 8 and 12 week milestone.  Luckily for me, there are 3 fun runs in Canberra around those times!!

Week 4 - Sri Chinmoy 4km Fun Run/Walk - 12th March 2012

Week 8 - ActewAGL Women's & Girls 5km Fun Run/Walk - 1st April 2012

Week 12 - Mother's Day Classic 5km Fun Run - 13th May 2012

This one will be the BIG one - I have actually signed up to do the run!!!! (You can sponsor me below by clicking on the picture if you would like to)

I also have no excuses for not doing them, as I have already signed up to the Sri Chinmoy and the MDC.  I would have signed up to the other one as well, but their registrations aren't open yet.

Can't believe I want to be a runner... lol!

Task 5: Say It Out Loud

Last round I got stuck on this pre season task, however, I have to say that this time I have found it even harder.

I have lost pretty much all of my self confidence when it comes to the program.  I am struggling to honestly believe that I can do this; that I can stick to it and that I can just get it done.

I struggle with the belief that this will be the last time I do this, that it's for life and overall that I can stick to the program.  It is amazing how many mind games there are when it comes to weightloss, and I think that battling your inner demons has to be (for me at least) the hardest part of the whole journey.  I mean, how do you get yourself up and out of bed and on your way to the gym when you can't find a positive thing to relate to yourself and your weightloss journey?

The key is (and what I keep trying to tell myself) to become a robot and just do it (or JFDI as Mish says). I know that when I exercise and eat right I feel amazing - and that includes my mental health, but it doesn't mean that it isn't hard.

So, in saying that, I am making my commitment.

1. Exercise each day.  Don't beat myself up if you don't crack 500 calories each session. Push myself, but not so that I burn out
2. Eat the best that I possibly can.  Eating veges every night and no more take away.
3. Eat atleast 1 piece of fruit per day.
4. Drink more water! Lay off the diet coke
5. Learn to run - do the C25K program so that I can run the whole way in a fun run
6. Don't compare myself to others! Everyone is different and has different lifestyles.
7. Exercise in the mornings - it's done and dusted and my day hasn't started yet
8. Focus mainly on excercise - just get it done. The weight will come off - just do the right thing.
9. Get to more group workouts - I feel so much better when I don't feel like I am on my own
10. Remember that I can succeed at what I want - just keep going and keep exercising.

Avoidance

I always comment on how my Dad is an ostrich... once things get a little confrontational he sticks his head in the sand and doesn't want to know about it.  I always thought I was the complete opposite, that I always go charging in and get stuff done...

Today I realised that I have in fact inherited the "ostrich trait" from my father. 

There are just some things that when they become a little uncomfortable for me I tend to 'shut down' and just block it all out, as though avoiding it will make it go away.

I will be honest (as I always am here lol) and tell you all that I have been avoiding anything 12WBT related ever since the commitment preseason task came out.  Just like last round, the commitment task has me completely panicky.  Why?! Because I don't have the confidence in myself to be able to back myself up.

I know who I want to commit myself to (myself, my partner and my friend), but I feel as though I would be lying as I can't seem to make myself believe that I will follow this program through.  Right now, I can't seem to commit to anything... eating, exercise, cleaning out the kitchen, wanting to cook and I have no enthusiasm for any of it.

So, why am I telling you all about this? Well, I figured if I am feeling this way, there must be other people out there who are feeling similar to me.  Plus, I realised that I have been avoiding blogging about anything here for fear of bringing too much negativity to my page and to the people who read this blog.

However - negative thought processes are part of the inward battle of weight loss and the only way (for me at least) to start working through them is to actually get it all out there, and for me to work through them... and part of that process seems to be to blog about it as I tend to find it quite therapeutic.

So, Round 1 kicks off on Monday, I am yet to find any enthusiasm for it, however I only have 3 days to get through the last half of my preseason tasks, so hopefully that will incite some enthusiasm.

Going Back To School

I have been thinking about writing about this topic for months, but I just never actually did it.

Next week I start (another) new phase in my life - university on campus.

A few years ago, I lost quite a bit of weight after finding out from my doctor what I was doing to my body (you can read a little more on my history here).  I found that I loved what I was doing.  I was losing weight, I was taking control of my life!

I had lost over 20kg from eating right and exercising.  Sure it took a while, but I was learning so much!  On more than one occasion I had friends and family tell me to do a shake diet because "you will lose weight faster" - somehow with as little as I knew at the time, I was able to recognise the fact that I wouldn't be able to sustain my weight, let alone learn anything about living a healthy lifestyle.  I had to learn to like fruit and veggies, I needed to learn that not everything out of a packet was good for you and I needed to learn how to read nutritional labels properly.

All of a sudden, friends and family were asking me for advice on how to lose weight (although a few didn't like the "eat healthy and exercise" message! haha!) and I really enjoyed helping people... which lead me to decide to go to university to become a dietician.

Admittedly, it was a hard decision to make... in one sense I felt that I wasn't worthy enough to become a dietician as I didn't feel that my diet was 'perfect' as well as the fact that I hadn't reached goal weight yet.  My friends encouraged me to enrol, as no one's diet will ever be perfect and did it really matter that I wouldn't be the skinniest girl in the class?! Even now, yes, I have put on quite a bit of weight recently, but I need to realise that this does not make me an inferior person and it is ok that I am studying nutrition.

So, I enrolled by distance through Charles Sturt University.  Over the next 18 months I completed a couple of subects, but I found that working full time and studying part time with intensive labs was far too stressful and after talking with B, it was decided that I would switch it around... so as of 2012 I will work part time and study full time at the University of Canberra!

To be honest, I am quite nervous about it all.  I haven't been a full time student for 7 years and it will be interesting to see with how I cope with it all.  I think at the moment my biggest fear is that I will struggle to understand the subject material and that I will be unable to retain that knowlege.  However, I won't know until I try!

Overall I am really looking forward to being able to do this. I miss being a student and I have never been to university, I have only studied at places like TAFE and CIT. I think that this year will be a great adventure!!

So, my subjects for this semester are:

1. Concepts in Biology
2. Chemistry 1A
3. Regional Anatomy & Physiology
4. Psychology 101

One of my biggest challenges during this round of the 12WBT will be managing my time. I hace decided that my workouts will be in the mornings, and I will have uni 2 days a week as well as working 3 days a week. During the other 2 days I will be catching up on lectures and other uni work as well as trying to find some time for myself.  I have spent a couple of hours this morning putting together my calendars to be able to work out my schedule, and so far, it's looking good!

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

That has been me over the last few days, it's been all about exercise!

On Friday morning, I got up and completed another workout on the Xbox, I am really starting to get into this game (Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012) and I am starting to push myself a little more with it as well.  I have been doing more running and skipping, and I even tried out the cardio workouts as well.  There is still so much to get through and try, but I love being able to do a cool down with Tai Chi.  I have fallen in love with it so much, I was even trying to find a local community group that does Tai Chi, however I haven't had much luck thus far.  I love that even though I am at home, and I am picking my own workouts, I still burned 482 calories!

London Bride Arch

On Saturday morning, the Canberra group was doing a ride around the Lake, and as much as I wanted to participate in that, I simply couldn't as I needed to be back here for our knitting group which I attend every Saturday morning.  So, Carrie and I decided to do a bush walk out at Googong before we had to catch up with our friends.

This bush walk was of the London Bridge Arch, and it really was a bush walk!!  We were driving on dirt roads to get to the starting area - and I have to say that I am too much of a city slicker in my little beep-beep car to drive there again... I am just not a fan.  The walk was ok, it wasn't overly hard, but it wasn't signposted that well.  We did get to see quite a few kangaroos jumping around and we even got fairly close up to a few of them as well!

We had intended to do the 3.4km walk, but I have no idea where the add-on was as the loop seemed to be of the smaller track and we didn't get to see the homestead.  Overall, I burned 292 calories, it's not much but at least it was something!

Instrument of pain!

And then finally today... There were a few different activities going on around Canberra, but I decided to do something I hadn't done in years!!  Carrie and I decided to do an RPM Class!  I tell you what - those RPM bikes are an instrument of pain!!!  Not even in the sense of working out, but just sitting on them!!!  Wowee do those bike seats hurt!!!!  There were times during the class that I wanted to cry or call out everytime I had to sit back down in that seat!  I think that I must be one of a few people who actually enjoyed the standing up and riding!

I think that I actually did quite well for my first class back.  I have only done a couple before, and the last one I did, I pushed myself too hard too early and really struggled through the class.  In saying that, I struggled through this class, but my strategy was much different.  I had decided to find a resistance level that I felt comfortable at (it wasn't too easy and not too hard) and I stayed at that level throughout the class. I rode fast (when I could lol) and slow at that speed as well as standing up in the bike to push it a little bit further.  I had sweat dripping off me (btw - I am totally buying some sweat bands, so if anyone knows of any nice ones, please let me know) and by the end of the class, I could barely stand when I got off the bike.  I burned 535 calories!

While the class was hard, I will be doing it again.  I am considering doing the same class every week (make it my Sunday workout).  It will be a great one to see myself improve in!

Task 4: Gearing Up

Task 4 is all about Gearing Up, or basically getting yourself ready equipment wise for the upcoming round.

I am pretty lucky in the sense that over the last few years I have built up quite a collection of exercise tools, so that I am now at the stage where I don't really need to buy anything major.  

For me, what I look at is basically having everything I can to avoid using my excuses to stop me from working out.  I guess an example of this is if I sleep in; rather than missing an entire workout, I would just go downstairs and do a fitness DVD or Xbox game.

So, for me, these are what I have:

My new workout shirt!

• Heart Rate Monitor - a pink FT4 to be exact!
• A variety of gym clothes
• I now have 4 sports bras (seriously - find the one that works for you and grab a couple!)
• Brand new sports shoes - bought them today at the Athlete's Foot - they cost a little more, but the fitting and service is awesome!
• A gym membership (which allows me to use 2 gyms)
• A treadmill at home (although I do need to remove the clothes that have gathered on it lol)
• Mish's exercise DVD's
• Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 for the Xbox - seriously - Best. Game. EVER! So much fun!
• Boxing gloves and mitts
• Skipping rope
• Ab roller - I want to use this to really improve my core strength this round
• Swimmers
• Goggles for swimming
• A yoga mat - although I would like a thicker, better quality one
• A fit ball - I do have this, but I am unsure if I will use it
• A gym bag!  I bought one today.  It seems silly, but it's just so nice to have an actual gym bag for all my workout stuff!

My new workout shoes! All nice and purple!!

So, this is it!  Overall, I want to be 'gymming' it, but I think that I will be doing a few outdoors workouts as well as a few xbox ones too.  I am looking forward to trying to plan it all out and really coming up with a workout schedule that will work for me - with what I have, and what I want to achieve.

My super cool gym bag!

Task 3: Set Your Goals

It's time to set some goals.  This round I have put a focus on exercise more than anything else. Exercise seems to be my downfall as I just don't like it. I also know that if I exercise I am more likely to eat healthier.

So, these are my goals so far, but I may be adding to them over the coming weeks.

Overall Goal: Lose 15-30kg

1 Month Goals

• Lose 4kg - 1kg per week
• Be able to run 1km without stopping
• Not give up on the program when going gets tough
• Swim more - teach yourself technique
• Be able to swim 5 laps without stopping
• Do a fun run

How I will get there

• Follow Mish's exercise and eating plans
• Focus more on getting exercise in as this is a hard point for me
• Follow Mish's learn to run program
• Keep it simple, try not to stress so much, just get it done. Analysis Paralysis
• Go to the pool once a week, push yourself a little further each time
• Find out when the fun runs are and sign up straight away
• Train for the fun runs

 
3 Month Goals

• Lose 12kg - 1kg per week
• Be able to run 4km without stopping
• Advance to the intermediate level
• Not give up on the program when going gets tough
• Swim more - teach yourself technique
• Be able to swim 10 laps without stopping
• Do some fun runs 

How I will get there

• Follow Mish's exercise and eating plans
• Focus more on getting exercise in as this is a hard point for me
• Follow Mish's learn to run program
• Keep it simple, try not to stress so much, just get it done. Analysis Paralysis
• Go to the pool once a week, push yourself a little further each time
• Find out when the fun runs are and sign up straight away
• Train for the fun runs 

6 Month Goals

• Lose 22kg
• Be in the fit & strong category
• Be in more fun runs - Run a full one!

How I will get there

• Follow Mish's plan
• Eat healthy, balanced meals
• Don't beat myself up if I go off the rails
• Find out when the fun runs are and sign up straight away
• Train for the fun runs

12 Month Goals

• Maintain my weight
• Be slim and fit for Casey's Wedding 

How I will get there

• Continue eating healthy, balanced meals and exercising

Upcoming Fun Runs

• Canberra Day Fun Run/Walk - 12 March (unsure if I can do this one as I am supposed to be working)
• Women & Girls Fun Run/Walk - 1 April
• Mothers Day Classic - 13 May

Facing Fears and Busting Excuses

It's been a couple of days since I blogged, but you will be happy to know that it's because I have been busy exercising, planning and facing fears.

As you are aware, I have decided that I want to start exercising in the mornings... Well, yesterday morning I woke up and had the usual "get ******! I'm going back to sleep!" thoughts but then I started thinking "if you don't start now, when will you?" and "just do it!".... but I have to say that the one that got to me the most was telling a friend of mine whom I have made a commitment to that "I couldn't be bothered!"  The idea of doing that got me out of bed quick smart!

To be fair, I really wasn't in the mood for the gym, but here is brainwave #1 - I didn't have to go to the gym... I could workout at home... I certainly have enough here!  There is the treadmill, the exercise DVD's, the exercise games on the Xbox (or the Wii), there are boxing pads and mitts and even a skipping rope!  And even if all that fails, I can go outside for a walk! So, that's what I did!  I got up, made a coffee and got ready... then I put on Mish's Cardio Shredder DVD.  I only did about 15 minutes before I got a little bored, but I hadn't done enough, so I switched over to the Xbox... where I did skipping, punching, running and tai chi! We had an early appointment which I had forgotten about at the start of my workout (good thing I didn't go to the gym!), so when I stopped, I had burned 412 calories. Not bad for someone who "couldn't be bothered"!



Not the best pic, but you get the idea...



Today was action packed!  It's my day off and I spent most of it on the go! Once again I woke up not wanting to go to the gym and I was so exhausted from the lsat 3 days worth of exercise and movement, so I told myself that I would go swimming instead... and you know what?! I did!! As you may have read previously, I have a fear of swimming, or more importantly, of putting my head under the water.  However, I have decided that this year I will face my fears! I also had an ulterior motive - I wanted to test out my HRM in the water... sadly the HRM wouldn't work... so I have no idea how many calories I burned, but I can tell you now, I worked my arse off!! (According to Mish I burned 180 calories - cos I was only swimming for about 15 minutes) I went to the larger outdoor pool, and I managed 3 laps! (Thats 150m people!!)  It doesn't sound like much, but it is 2 more laps than I thought I would be able to do.  I was hoping that I would be able to do some swimming lessons, but the local pool is booked out and I have been struggling to find alternate places (btw - is it so hard to return a phone call (or 4!) Tuggeranong Pool?!), so I have decided to give it a go on my own for now. (For the record, I also went to the dentist today - that's another fear!)

To help me get prepared, I have started cooking up some meals to freeze so that I can have them waiting for me in the freezer for those days (and nights!) that I can't be bothered cooking because it's too late, or that I am so hungry I would eat anything!  I made up some Basil & Mushroom Risotto and some Lentil Bolognese with Spagetti.  Tomorrow I will be cooking some more, but it won't be one of Mish's meals, it will be from Symply Too Good To Be True.

So, I think that is about all for me for now... I will be posting up some goals for my Pre Season Task 3 as soon as I do them!