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!

Task 2: Get Real

Ok - time to list all of my excuses.  I had a look at last rounds excuses, and I have to say that I don't really use some of them anymore - how cool is that!!!

Internal Excuses
I'm too tired
I'm too lazy
I won't finish it, why bother?
I need more sleep
I can't be bothered cooking/I'll just buy food
I just want to relax
I'm too sore from exercise
I'll start again later
But, I love chocolate -  one piece won't hurt
I should be able to eat the 'fun' stuff too - what's life without living?
I can't be bothered driving to Canberra
I'm too scared to swim
My work is too physical
I can’t go to the gym today, it’s going to hurt and I’ll be too tired and tomorrow
Working out too much stresses me


Solutions
Go to bed earlier - you don't need to wait up with B before you can go to bed
Just get up earlier and go to the gym - you already know you can do it!
You are only as lazy as you allow yourself to be
You can finish it, only you can do it - and you have done it before!
Making lunch/breakfast/dinner won't take as long as you think
If you do the exercise int he mornings, then you can relaz int he afternoons
The best cure for muscle soreness is another (gentle) workout
Start again now
One piece makes all the difference, once you start you can't stop
What's life without being happy?  Take care of your body
Pick which workouts you will go to, you don't have to go to them all - make the effort
Find a swimming teacher - you have already started, follow through and you won't be too scared
Exercise in the mornings, then you don't need to worry about it - consider work as a bonus workout
Just go to the gym. It's gonna hurt anyway, just do it now and then you don't need to worry about it!
Have a schedule - work out times, uni times and work times - PLAN!

External Excuses (Within My Control) 
When I am at someone else's house for dinner I need to eat everything they serve
There is a morning tea at work
There is dinner on at work (staff meetings) which is always pizza
There is a big uni assignment coming up, I'll skip the workout and just work on the assignment

Solutions 
Make the best choice you can.  If possible, eat before you go.
There is fruit on the table, eat that
Take in an extra meal for dinner, or eat before you go.
Time management - don't leave the assignment until the last minute.  Also, exercise is good at getting you thinking.

External Excuses (Outside My Control)
I get migraines
I get sick

Solutions
Don't eat crap, keep it clean and just keep going.  You can't do anything about them, just do the best you can.

Googong Walk

It's been a while, but this morning I woke up with a severe case of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).  I was so sore and stiff that I wasn't even sure if I could roll over onto my stomach!  However, I had organised a walk out at Googong and that was enough to spur me out of bed and to get ready.

I was really impressed with how close my house is to the Ranger Station - only 6 minutes away!!  It's been so long since I have been out there, but I think I have now found another exercise location!  There are a few walks out there, so I have a few options, and it's not as far away as Tidbinbilla (as much as I love it out there, it can just be a little too far!)

When I arrived at the Ranger Station, there were already 2 people there, we were then met by another lady and her daughter.  None of us had met before, so we spent the walk getting to know each other. It was great to meet some more new people!  I think it's really important to meet new people and make more friends on this program, I think the more support you have, and that you give, the more that you are likely to succeed.  It was overcast, and I was a little worried that we might get rained out, but we were lucky because the rain held off - we only got a couple of drops!

We had to drive to get to where we start the walk (after a short detour because I missed the turn off!! haha!!), and I have to say that the rain has done some good, because the path was a bit overgrown!  I don't think the rangers have had a chance to clear it up again (or not many people do the walk lol!)  There was some great scenery and lots of kangaroos - in fact there were some sitting on the path at one stage and we stopped until they moved off.

It took us about an hour to do a 4km walk - and that included a very steep hill and a few rocky parts!!!  This walk was labelled easy, but I don't think that it was... I found it a little challenging to be honest (my heart rate peaked at 177bpm!) and I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath.  Overall, I burned 586 calories this morning!!  Such a great workout!!

Capital Punishment Workout

I have had a bit of a meltdown over the last couple of days.  I honestly don't think it was anything major, just all of the fears bubbling to the surface.  Luckily for me, I am surrounded by the wonderful people of the 12WBT who read my blog, as well as the amazing Capital Punishment team here in Canberra.

I debated about doing it, but I actually put a post up in the Capital Punishment Facebook page asking for help.  I owned up to how I was feeling.  In this program, I feel it is really important to ask for help.  It is actually a really hard thing for me to do, but I am so glad that I did! There was an outpouring of support and while I am not overly convinced, I am feeling much better about it all.

The other thing I think is bothering me actually came from a post on the forums.  I don't think that I feel overly organised.  I am a virgo (as the poster also pointed out), I love order, I love plans and I love lists!  At this point in time, I have a few unknowns coming up; university in particular.  I have talked to my partner about this, and we have decided to dedicate next weekend to getting our study set up and organised.  I also want to make sure that I can tidy up a few other things around here (read: floordrobe! haha! I can't figure out how I want to organise my clothes lol!)  Right now, I feel like I just need to make so many to-do lists to get myself organised, but I have no idea where I want to start!  I think I just need to get one thing done, and see how I go.

The funny thing is though, even though I was feeling down about myself and my capabilities, I was looking forward to doing the workouts this weekend.  This morning there was a circuit workout planned and we had about 25 people turn up (not counting the kids lol)!  It was hard, but it was fun!  After the circuit, we did a bit of boxing which was great, but challenging!! It's amazing how much of an affect other people can have on you, I am determined to go to more group workouts this year!

Overall, I burned 621 calories, which is a pretty good effort.  I think next time I will do a bit of a warm up (park further away maybe), so that I can add that into the workout too. 

Tomorrow I have organised a group bushwalk at Googong Foreshores.  I think that it will be a lot of fun to have a few people doing it with me.  I know that Carrie and I had a lot of fun at Tidbinbilla last year when we did the bushwalk there.

Well, I think that's enough for this post, but I really do need to get stuck into my Preseason Task 2, so will be back with that!

What happened?!

I started this week determined to get back into my workouts and to start working out in the mornings.  Well, I did on Monday - and that was it! 

I had a down couple of days, where I was sad and completely unmotivated, and to be honest, I was struggling to believe that I could do this program.  I mean, I wasn't able to do the program the last time I tried, why can I do it this time.  I know that this is such a downer of a topic, but I have always promised that I would be completely honest on this blog.

I have actually started feeling better about it all really, I think my biggest thing is that I really feel alone in undertaking this.  I have people around be yes, but the truth is, I know that it's all up to me and no one else can do it for me.  I think that the enormity of it all is starting to get to me, as I need to do so much planning and organising to make sure that I can keep everyone happy - including myself.

I know that last round I had a lot of big changes going on in my life, but I am worried that this round won't be any different as I will be starting uni (I have never done that before!) and I am worried about how I will go with fitting it all in...

Anyway, I'm pretty much back to myself today, but I thought I should pop in and put these thoughts down - and I guess to let all the newbies out there know that these moments are normal during the program, I think the key is to just get on with it.

Task 1: Introduce Yourself

Hi All

Thought I would pop in and introduce myself :)

My name is Leeana (aka whirlsie) and I am from Canberra.  This is my second round of the 12WBT, and I will be honest, I really hope that this round goes better for me lol!

In all fairness, my issues las round had nothing to do with the program, but mostly to do with the huge lifestyle changes I was going through and constantly getting sick.  I am hoping that all of those times I was sick last year have helped to give my immunce system a boost so that I can really give this round my all!

I have just changed from working full time to working part time so that i can go to university.  I have never been to uni on campus before, so that will be another learning curve!  I am really looking forward to going back to being a full time student, but I have to admit that it fightens me too!

I have been blogging about my journey since the beginning of last round, I find that being open and honest on my blog really keeps me accountable... plus when I have a 'win' I can't wait to shout it out there, so it's a great tool for that.

I am really looking forward to getting more involved with the Capital Punishment team here in Canberra - I really think that doing more events with them will help me succeed.  They are a great bunch of people, so motivating and inspiring!

Anyway, that's a little about me!

Inspired!

I have been so inspired from writing all of the blogger challenge questions and reading the forums, that last night at 8.30pm I decided to do a workout!

I started out with one of Mish's DVD's, but after about 15 minutes I must admit, I got a little bored... so I put on Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 on the Xbox.  OMG! So awesome!! I did some skipping and a little boxing and I even tried to do the hip hop dancing!! haha!!  But what I loved the most about it was the Tai Chi!  So much fun and so relaxing!!  Definitely something I could use more of!

For Christmas I had gotten the new Polar FT4 from my brother, and almost a month later, I finally got to test it out!  So, last night I burned 511 calories!!!

I also made a decision last night to go to the gym today... in the morning in fact!  Anyone who know's me knows that I am not a morning person... even my partner reckons I'm scary before I have had my morning coffee.  I am so proud to tell you all that I actually got up!!!  I set my alarm for 6am, and while I did get up at 6.20am, I have to tell you that I did seriously consider staying in bed... very seriously thought about it.  I am so glad that I did get up though!!  I got up, made myself a coffee, got dressed and headed out the door to the gym!!  I did a beginner workout from last round with Mish, and I can happily say that I haven't lost as much of my fitness as I thought I would have!!  In fact, I burned another 515 calories!!!

I am so glad that I went this morning!! I was able to come home and not workout this afternoon - completely guilt free!!  I am planning on doing it again tomorrow morning - I just need to start going to bed earlier now....

While I did exercise today, I do need to admit that my eating was off the charts... I haven't had a chance to do the groceries since we got back from holiday, so I will be doing that tomorrow to avoid having so much take away.

Mish has also opened up the pre-season tasks as of today, so I will be watching her video shortly and I will be making a post with my answers.

12WBT Blog Post Ideas

Since writing my last few posts on the Blogger Challenge and How to Start A Blog, I have had a couple of questions regarding blog posts and when e blogger challenge will start.

The Blogger Challenge will start on Monday the 20th of February - this coincides with the middle of the first week of the program (the week usually starts on a Thursday) and I will post up a new Blogger Challenge question each Monday morning for the 12 weeks. These will be scheduled in so that they will appear at 9am each week on my blog.

As for what you guys can write about in the meantime, I did consider putting a couple of extra questions up, but to be honest, I really feel that you guys will have plenty of ideas over the coming 4 weeks. Mish will be posting up her preseason tasks which will give you plenty to write about. I would suggest writing some of them in the forums as she asks, but also putting them onto your blog. This not only gives you things to write about, but also makes it easier for you to refer back to them during the program. Plus, it also makes you accountable by having them there...

Other ideas which you can write about during the program are:

• your exercise - what you did, how you felt it went, how many calories you burned, if you tried something new
• your food - did you try a new recipe, did you eat on plan, were there any challenges?
• milestones - any special achievements?
• fitness tests - what were your results, what were the outcomes, are you happy with how you did?
• your weigh ins - how did you go, are you happy with the results, what do you think you will do the same/what will you change?

I hope this helps to give you some ideas, remember, you can also look at other peoples blogs for ideas. See what they are writing about, comment on their posts, make new friends - you never know when you will get inspired :)

How to Start A Blog

I don't pretend to be a master at blogging, nor a technological mastermind, however I can find my way around most programs.

Since announcing my plans to do the Blogger Challenge, I have had a few people asking me about how to start a blog.

Clearly, I am a fan of Blogger.com but I know a few people also really like wordpress (personally, I find their templates boring, but I am much more of a visual person).  There are many other blogging platforms out there, but I have found these to be the most common one.

As I am currently using Blogger, this post will be mainly focussed on this platform.

So, in a nutshell, these are my steps :)

1. Go to www.blogger.com to sign up for a new account, click on "Get Started"

 

2. In the next screen, fill in the form to create your account.

3. The following screen is where you will type in the title of your blog as well as the address which will appear in the address bar (what people will type in to get to your blog). Try to come up with a name that is relevant to what you are doing. The more unique the name, the more likely the name will be available.

4. Now comes the fun part (at least for me it is!) - the template!! here is where you will choose what your blog looks like. For the time being, unless you are feeling more confident, just pick one of the templates they have on offer by clicking one of the pictures as shown below (I have customised my template on this blog in another part of the website).

5. TA-DA!! You blog has now been created!! This next screen gives you the option of creating a blog post right away or customising the way your blog looks. If you are totally new to all of this, I would recommend just going onto writing your first blog post - worry about the look of your blog once you are feeling more comfortable, you can find how here (for Blogger)
 

By clicking on this link, you will have one of the two following screens - I am going to give you a basic run down of both:

Old Interface

New Interface 

With both of these interfaces, there are common buttons, however they are in slightly different places.  This is what they all mean:

• Red Arrow - this is where you type in the title of your blog post (for instance, the title of this blog post is "How to Start A Blog")
• Large White Rectangle - this is where you type your actual blog post - what you want to tell people.
• Blue Arrow - this is where you can add a label to the post so that it is easy to find/search for later on (eg 12WBT, exercise, goal, pre-season, etc)
• Purple Arrow - this will save your post but it will not make it appear to the public. Blogger also automatically save your posts as you type, however it doesn't hurt to save as you go
• Orange Arrow - this is your "Publish" button.  This is what will make your post appear on your blog to the public.
• Pink Arrow - This is how you can preview your post - so you can see what it would look like to the public before you hit the Publish button
• Black Arrow - this is how you go the the actual blog ie what the public sees.  Try not to hit this button while you are typing your posts, as it will take you out of that screen and to the public site.

How to create a new post
Ok, so your blog is now all set up and you have probably written your first introductory post!! WOOT!  Now, you probably want to know how you can write another one when you need to.
Well, these next points are based from the Dashboard (aka, main screen just after you log in)

Old Interface

New Interface

With both of these pictures, I have used a Black Arrow to highlight the button that you need to press to create another blog post - that's all you need to do to get back to the above "New Post Screens".


I really hope that this has helped you!!  Blogger has a great help site located here.  There are also a few specific pages that you might want to look into once you are feeling up for it:
How to customise the look of your blogs
How to add the little gadgets to your blog

Getting Back into the Groove

While I haven't had a new post in a couple of days, there has actually a lot of work going on in the background.  You see, I have decided to do a Blogger Challenge for the 12WBT for the upcoming round.  (This is an unofficial one - just for the record!)

I got the idea from Courage2Start from the one that she started for round 3, 2011.  I actually got a lot out of participating, and I found that I was really looking forward to the new questions each week.  I loved it so much, I had a chat with Kath and as she wasn't going to do one this round, I thought that I would give it a go!  

So, if there aren't any regular posts coming up, the reason is because I am busy typing up the posts/questions for the blogger challenge... These will all be scheduled so that they will go up each week at the same time.  Plus, if I have them ready to go before they are needed, if anything comes up, they will still be there and will go on the blog no matter what.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about doing it.  This is my kind of thing... lots of planning and getting involved! haha!

I have been thinking a lot about the program and what i really want to achieve not only for this round, but also for this year.  I have been putting a great deal of thought into it all; mostly in regards to what my goals will be, what I want to focus on, what I think I will struggle with, and how I will overcome these.  I really feel that thinking about all of this now will stand me in great stead for when I need to answer the pre season tasks.

I have been in serious holiday mode since the end of round 3, and I have to say - the scales aren't looking good... This morning decided that it was time to start weighing myself again and trying to cut out the chocolate so that I can jump in, ready to go in just over 4 weeks time.  Now that our guests have left, and life is settling into a normal routine, I am hoping to get back to the gym (in the mornings!!!!!) and shed some of the weight.  I will own up to the fact that I have put almost all of what I lost in round 3 back on.  This morning I weighed in at 95.4kg.

I think that one of my biggest concerns at the moment is that I will be sick like I was last round.  I really found it to be so disruptive to getting into a routine and keeping my motivation up.  At the moment I am fighting off an infection (but not an illness, so that's something) and I am on antibiotics.  Once I finish the course of AB, I will be back at the gym.  I really want to make this round work!  What I need to do though, is to find a middle ground between being committed to the program and stressing out.  I am a bit of an "all or nothing" kinda gal... so this will be an interesting challenge!

Well, that's an update from me!  Back to getting this Blogger Challenge all ready to go!!

The Unintentional Side Effect of the 12WBT

You know, when you think of the 12WBT, most people think of the weightloss, the food, the exercise and the complete overhaul of your life.  However, there is one thing that has really stuck with me since I did Round 3, 2011, and that is gardening. 

It isn't something that I ever thought that I would find a passion for, but here I am, after yet another trip to the garden store.  I have always liked the idea of being able to grow things (with my aunt and sister always gardening when I was younger) and I love the idea of being able to eat food that I have grown myself.

When I first started my garden, I made a couple of posts here and here, and I kept meaning to come in here and update with photos, however there was always something I wanted to add, so I put it off until I could post up the pics.  Now however, I am going to post up a whole bunch of pictures, as I have quite a few I want to share, plus, my garden has grown (and it will grow even more soon - I'm talking size, not plants, although hopefully they will grow too lol)

I have been able to harvest snow peas, beans, spring onions, tomatos, basil, oregano, thyme, coriander (although this plant is now dead! lol), carrots and lettuce.  You can see some of these below (check out my crazy warped carrots!)

The plants grew so well in the big pots, I actually went out an bought a raised garden bed and replanted a lot of the plants in the smaller pots that weren't doing so well... and ta-da! I had a real garden!!  I had done a bit of research using my The Little Vegie Patch Co book, and I read up about having a 'no dig (lazy) garden' where you layer organic material that as it decomposes, gives nutrients to your plants.  I placed all of this into a raised garden bed that I bought at Home Hardware (which B constructed for me).

In fact, I loved the outcome so much - I bought another one!!  I am yet to construct the second garden bed, but it's there, waiting.

My garden has done really well. and I am proud to say that I haven't killed anything - other than some snow pea plants that didn't like to be moved - lesson learned!! lol

I have gotten into gardening so much, that for Christmas I asked my family for a worm farm... that's right... a worm farm!!  People are a little surprised by what I wanted (the other present I asked for was a new Polar HRM lol), but I have to say, I am so excited!!  I love that we can use our food scraps in the farm and reduce our carbon footprint that way, as well as getting some fertiliser for the garden at the same time.  I was only able to set the farm up yesterday, so I got the gardening bug yet again.... hence the trip to Bunnings lol!

I could go to town in Bunnings, there is always something there that I could find a use for...  Yesterday, I bought some more plants (parsely, chives and lavendar), and I also bought some seeds (carrot and lettuce), a couple of pots (for the lavendar and for the strawberries I bought previously) and a little seed tray/greenhouse for growing the seeds.  I didn't realise it at the time, but the lettuce seeds I bought are actually in a tape, so that you can plant them in a straight row... how awesome is that!!  Makes me want to build the second garden bed so that I can test it out!

Anyway, I have posted some pictures previously of what the garden looked like initially, so I thought I would post up a couple of photos that I took yesterday, including of the new plants.

For any newbies out there, growing your own food will be touched on during the pre-season tasks.  Mish I think mostly talks about herbs... I just took it a step (or five!) further.

This is really something that I never thought that I would find an interest in... I mean, before I started I didn't even know what "gone to seed" meant, and I knew nothing about companion planting (interesting stuff really!), now, I still know next to nothing, but I am loving learning about it.   It also plays in well with my planning side, as I get to plan ahead for what I want to grow next, and I also found an app for the ipad (and other devices) called Gardenate, which helps you plan your garden and tells you when to harvest.  You can find their website here.