Day 2 - It has well and truely started!

Well, here we are!! Day 2!! I thought I would give a little bit of a recap on how my first day on the program was :)

First thing I did in the morning was to get up and make my breakfast (I know that below it said that I was sposed to go and do my hook up class at 6am, but I will explain that in a second).  I didn't have my blender unpacked, but that wasn't going to deter me, so I decided I would make the cous cous with apple and cinnamon.  My wonderful boyfriend was brave enough to try it with me... however we both agreed it was quite bland and disapointing... so we had cereal instead.  However, we tried it and gave it a go, so that's a point in my book :)

Morning tea I had a snack of sultanas, and I also worked out that I can have a coffee as well. So that was good.  I didn't feel full but I wasn't necessarily hungry, so that was ok.  Onto lunch, it was the curried egg sandwich (although I forgot the curry in the shopping lol) with alfalfa on soy and linseed (burgen) and OMG!! So yummy and filling!!

I made it to 2.30pm before having my afternoon snack of cheese on vita-weats and then after that I was starving!!!! Not as in hunger that I could ignore, but as in painful and it felt like my stomach was going to eat my insides!!  I didn't know what to do!! I didn't  want to just eat anything, and I wanted to be good and not go over the 1200 calories, but I also knew that at that stage of hunger I would have stopped at maccas on the way home and blown it all... and then I remembered the little fruit cup of weight watchers peaches that I had left in the fridge at work and luckily enough it was only 36 calories - exactly the amount I had left to make it up to my 1200 calorie allowance! SCORE!  This tiny little cup of magical goodness gave me just that little bit extra to tide me over until dinner.  I was able to go to the gym and make it until dinner - didn't even consider maccas on the way home (it's next door to the gym - how unfair is that?!)

Dinner was really good! I don't usually like tomatoes, but the cherry ones we had last night were really good!!  The Chicken with Herbed Yoghurt and Salad was really nice.  It was kinda tangy which was good.  I am having this today for lunch.  After dinner, I did have a cuppa and half a yoghurt, so I did go over slightly, but overall I am proud of how well I did food wise for the first day.

For exercise, Carrie and I did the Group Active class at the gym.  I know that my preseason task was to diarise and organise my work out sessions, however, what I didn't think of was having a partner for the Hook Up session - which is in the morning where I would have had to go on my own.  So, Carrie and I need to workout what we are doing together and whether or not we break it up by not doing a gym class but something else instead.  However, for now, tonight we are trying the boxing class :)  After last night's class, both Carrie and I agreed that we aren't ready for a full on step class, so I am happy to stick with the Active class for now and maybe do the learn to run program as an extra workout.

Anyway, the Active class was a lot of fun.  It's a combination of step, pump and core.  In the hour I burned 462 calories and I was so puffed during the step part!  I wasn't too unco either!! BONUS!!  The pump part of it pushed me as I wasn't used to using the hand weights instead of a barbell, but it was also really good (I had 2.5kg in each hand).  I'm not sure how well I did in the core section.  I tried to follow it all and do it all, but I just can't seem to get much movement going and I don't feel like I am engaging the muscles the way I am supposed to.

The picture of my lunch above is from yesterday, and as you can see, it doesn't seem to be much.  So today, I switched it around a little and the picture to the right is my lunch today.  I have a couple of extra snacks that I can work into the 1200 calories as well as a couple of cups of coffee.  For breakfast I had porridge (as I still hadn't pulled out the blender) and I love how much it fills me up.  For dinner tonight we are having Char-grilled Beef with Avocado and Corn Salsa.  It looks so yummy!!

Oh and yesterday the Finale was announced for the 10th December in Sydney.  So that has also given me something extra to shoot for.  It would be nice to be able to keep up in the workout that happens with Michelle.  It also makes me wonder what kind of dress I could fit into in 12 weeks...

Task 6: Kitchen Makeover

Whoops!!!!


Forgot that I hadn't posted about this!  We did this task (by we, I mean my boyfriend and I) on Friday night.  We did did a little out of order, simply because things have been hectic and we needed the convenience over the last couple of weeks.

However, as of Friday night, we got our Week 1 food delivered by woolies.  We have been converted to online ordering.  I think it costs a little more, but it is soooooo convenient!!  We don't have to walk up and down the aisles or wait in queues or have tempting foods sneak their way into the trolley.  I actually really enjoy doing the grocery shopping, and thought I would miss it, but at this stage, I don't at all!

Anyway, back onto the task.  The point of this one was to go through the cupboards, fridge and freezer and throw out all of the processed junk that has managed to worm it's way into our lives.  I have to admit that we didn't need to throw out much which was good, and a few things did stay, but these were things for my partner, and mostly stuff that I don't eat anyway, so it worked out well.

Our cupboards are now full of "Mish Approved Foods" and our fridge looks incredibly green and leafy.  I can't wait to really get cooking with it all.

What I really love about having the shopping list and meal plans is that at the end of the week we should have little to no food wastage - which I love!!!

On a random side note, I came across a couple of interesting pages which I don't want to lose the links to, so in case you are interested, here they are

Geometry Clothing - clothing for women to help hide those wobbly bits
Simply No Knead - Bread making at it's finest!

Week 1 Surprise: Fitness Test

Week 1 starts tomorrow, and we had a fitness test that we had to do.  I did mine today and you won't believe it - I am in the intermediate category!!  Who would have thought?! I am so happy with my results - at least at this stage of the game! I thought I might have been in the beginner category.

In the 1km run, we went to the local oval, and I did it in 7 minutes 21 seconds, which is in the intermediate category.  I didnt struggle with this as much as I thought.  It was hard but it really wasn't as bad as I was dreading. I wasn't able to run the whole way, but I jogged for most of it, and only walked twice and it wasn't for long overall.

For the push up test, in 1 minute I did 23 push ups and they hurt!!!  By the end of it, I really struggled to get those last few out.  Compared with the push up test I did at the gym a few weeks ago, I did all of these at stage 2 (on my knees, but with my knees further back).  These results were also in the intermediate category, so I am happy with that.

The wall sit REALLY hurt!!  Sadly, I was only able to manage 13 seconds before my knees started to really hurt as well as my thighs.  This is something that I am hoping to improve on as the beginner category is 59 seconds or less... and I would say I failed lol!  I would like to  at least be able to be closer to the 59 second mark.

As I expected, I completely failed the abs test... I couldn't even get my wrists to knees!!! So, this is my other beginner category. But as I said, I was expecting this, and this is why it is one of my goals to build up my core muscles.  I am curious if this is one of the reasons why I couldn't lose much weight off my tummy area when I was closer to my goal weight.  I know that it isn't possible to spot reduce, but I had no 'structure' there to help with it at all.

The last test had to do with flexibility, with this I also got an intermediate level.  My measurement for this was -4cm, meaning my fingertips were 4cm from my toes when I was trying to reach for them.  People who can reach past their toes would be in the positive.  I am hoping that one day I will be flexible enough to do this.

Overall, I did much better than I was expecting, and I am quite happy with the results.  I really do want to work on my core muscles, I need to learn to stop ignoring them.  We have Your Shape Fitness Eveloved for the Xbox as well as the EA Sports Active 2.  I am hoping that I will be able to put together a core workout together on these to help me out.

One other thing I loved about doing this fitness test was how involved my partner was in it all.  It was great to see him take an interest in it and wanting to see how he faired with the tests as well.  He even took the pics of me running lol! Hope u like them haha!

Task 8: Measure Up

Well, here we go! It's the first official weigh in of the 12WBT!  Sadly, the weight has crept up over the preseason, but I don't want to focus on this, I want to focus on how much my body is going to transform over the next 12 weeks from all of the hard work I will be putting into it from exercise and eating right!

I have taken my before photo (very confronting and all kinds of rolls that I didn't know that I had)  I think it will be awesome to see how much my body can (and will!) change over the next 12 weeks.  I have also done up my measurements (below) so I can track how much this changes too.

Week 1
Thursday 8 September

		Change	Total Loss
Weight:	96.5kg	n/a	n/a
Arms:	29.5cm	n/a	n/a
Bust:	114cm	n/a	n/a
Waist:	123.5cm	n/a	n/a
Hips:	124.5cm	n/a	n/a
R Thigh:	58.5cm	n/a	n/a
L Thigh:	58.5cm	n/a	n/a

We got our shopping list and meal plans for the upcoming week.  Brian and I sat down tonight and placed our grocery order.  It was really reasonably priced overall.  We had a few extra things on the list, but it came to about $175, which I think is pretty good considering it's the initial shop and there would be a few things that we didn't have in the cupboard.  The recipes looked really good! There wasn't really anything that I turned my nose up at, although there were a couple of interesting dishes.  I think because I have gone into it open minded, I am more willing and likely to try new things.  I have noticed a few people on the forums seem to be turning their noses up at the food before they had seen it.  I used to be a really fussy eater, and I know how hard it was for me then when I didn't eat what was on offer, however I think that the only way I got over that was to retrain my taste buds and to keep trying new things. I really hope that they can get as much out of the program as possible.

There is also a fitness test that needs to be done.  I had planned on doing it at the gym, but Mish wants us to do it unaided (ie that we are running on our own, not having a machine set at a certain speed to aid us).  There are also some push ups, sit ups (if you remember from my PT session, I struggled with both!) theses weird sitting reach things, wall sits... i think thats it... as well as the 1km run (omg!!)  I am so nervous about the run!  1km is quite a lot!  We worked out that if I ran around the local football field (about a 5 min walk away from our house) I would need to run around it one and a half times... thats a lot!!  I don't think I will be able to run the whole thing, but as Mish said, I just need to do it, it doesn't matter if I run, walk or crawl it, I just need to finish it.

Tomorrow night, the grocery shop will arrive so I will try to remember to take some pics of our healthy foods and I would also like to do the fitness test so that it is done and out of the way.

Task 7: Organise and Diarise

Here is task 7 (yes, I know, before task 6 is completed! lol).  This task is built on from my commitment task where I have to commit to my exercise plans by organising and diarising my time for exercising - 6 times a week where I need to burn 500 calories each time except one day where I need to burn 1000 calories to make up for my 1 day off.  I have had a look at my gym schedule for classes, as I find that I tend to work out harder in a class than I do on my own, however that said, if it comes to it, I am prepared no, committed to working out at home or on the gym floor if needs be.

Below, is my ideal workout schedule, however I haven't tried all of these classes before, so if I don't like one, I may need to reorganise it all.  I also need to make sure that what I have planned will work with my friend who I am doing the 12WBT with, so we have decided that after Saturday's Centergy class, we will get a coffee and look at our upcoming week to make sure that we can work with each other.  To start with, Michelle has laid out our workouts as:

• 3 days of Fitness
• 2 days of Toning
• 1 day of light fitness, core and stretch

I have managed to work it out as follows:

	AM	PM
Monday:	Hook Up
Tuesday:		Group Power
Wednesday:	Centergy	Group Step
Thursday:		Group Kick
Friday:	Group Power
Saturday:	Centergy

Fitness

Toning

Light

As well as the regular exercise component, there is also needing to look at milestones at 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks.  I have set these to correspond with my goals as follows:

• 4 weeks - go for a bushwalk in a national park
• 8 weeks - go paddle boating
• 12 weeks - undecided 

As you can see, I don't have a milestone at this stage for my 12 week mark.  Some people are setting marathons, some are using the end of round workout with Michelle, but for me, I really like the idea of doing something I have always wanted to do, but never done, whether it's because I have been too big, not had anyone to do it with or just sheer laziness.  Once it is locked into the calendar, that's it!  I have even been trying to narrow it down even more and pick which bushwalk to do!  Michelle does say to make it specific! lol So, it has been decided that I will do the Devil's Gap walk at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve (here is a pdf of the walking tours).  It is 6km, at 2 hours (moderate level) and this is what the brochure has to say about it:

A short but steep walk up the fire trail through dry mountain eucalypt forest. The walk ends at the boundary gate and returns along the same trail.

I can't believe I am about to say this, but I am pumped to do this challenge, and you know what?! I have diarised it for Sunday 9th September to do with my awesome partner.

I was a little concerned that the paddleboating milestone wouldn't be 'enough' and that maybe it was too much of a reward than a milestone/challenge, but my boyfriend assured me that it's a definite workout and can be quite hard to do!  So, all those pump classes should come in handy at this point in time as I will really need my legs for this.  I have added this to my calendar for Saturday 5th November.



The other thing that needs to be added to the diary are the red flag days. These are days where something is on, such as a party, or travelling or something which can trip you up.  The point of doing this is to ensure that these days don't become a major blow out and to teach us to prepare for events like this by either modifying our eating patterns or adding in an additional exercise - or both!  For me, I am quite lucky in the sense that I don't really have anything planned.  All of the family birthday's are done, Christmas isn't until after the 12WBT, and the only thing that we currently have locked in is a trip up to Sydney for the Harry Potter Exhibition in November, so I have asked my boyfriend when we go up there if we can try to get a hotel with a gym, or I might actually just get a casual pass for a gym up there. The other alternative is that I might fit in an extra workout before we go up, that way I won't need to worry about it at all over the weekend.

Well, this post definitely turned into a novel, but is was SO FUN to plan and organise it all!!  I can't wait to do my bushwalk now!!!  Better get to the gym and start getting fitter!!

Shopping List

Today we get our week 1 shopping list and program! I can't wait!!  It's so weird to be excited about doing the grocery shop, but I really am.

I am a little nervous about what the meals will be like. Will I like them? Will the foods be very different?

I have heard that the meals are so tasty, and I have heard it a few times that they are quick and easy to prepare, so that's good too...

Hopefully they will be out around lunch time today - can't wait to see it all!!

Bits and Pieces of News

Ok, so I was just thinking of all of the little things I have been meaning to share... and haven't quite made it here yet! lol

• I went to my first CapitalPunishment workout on Saturday morning!  I wasn't looking forward to exercising (funny that!) but really wanted to meet some of my fellow 12WBTers.  What a great bunch!!!  We walked part way around the lake, then did a circuit and walked back, where we then had breakfast.  Not only did I burn 639 calories that morning, but I went on to burn a further 600 calories that afternoon at netball (last game of the season)!
• While netball has now finished, I am considering taking up the twilight season.  To be honest, I don't know why... all season I was groaning about having to go and play netball and about how much I didn't want to go or that I wouldn't be playing next year... but I think I will... I think it will be better knowing that I am actually doing something, plus I will be healthier and fitter by then so it shouldn't be such a struggle!
• I bought some boxing gloves and target pads (is that what they are called?!) Got them from Big W on sale for $20 a set!  I haven't tested them out yet, but I am looking forward to it! There is another CapitalPunishment session on this weekend, but it's boxing - so I should be able to use them there!!
• I also bought some workout/weights gloves for pump classes.  I remember a couple of years ago when I was doing it regularly I was getting callouses and "man hands" as they were called on the 12WBT forums. Because I loved pump so much last time, I'm sure I will again this time, so I thought it would be a great investment.  I'm sure it's going to make me look like a serious pump addict, but I don't care! lol I just love pump!!
• I bought a 1 hour photo shoot voucher from Living Social deals as an end of round goal/treat.  It was only $50 and includes 2 photos!  I thought it would be a great incentive!
• I have been on a book buying spree where I picked up a copy of Michelle Bridge's Losing the Last 5 Kilos - so now I have all of her books as well as a great selection of recipes and a great resource!
• The PT at the gym we have been going to has put together a 'partner' program for my friend and I, so that we can work out together.  We are going back today to get flogged by the PT - first time ever... a little scary, but last week we had a quick run through to program and it was actually fun!!!  Who would have thought?!

That's about all the godd and tid bits from me for the moment, but hopefully that has brought us mostly up to date!

I can't wait for Monday!  I want to get started, so I think I will just have to get my shit together and get all the bits and pieces sorted before then so that I can give it as much attention as possible!  I can't believe as of next week I will be working out 6 times a week!! woah!

Falling behind

I'm falling behind in my preseason tasks.  I really need to sit down and do tasks 6-8 (8 came out this morning, but I am kinda looking forward to it!)

With task 6 I need to clean out the cupboard and fridge.  I haven't really pushed this yet as we have only just moved into our place and tbh, we don't have that much food there... plus I knew that we would be time poor this week (as I mentioned in the last post) so we wouldn't be ready to start until Monday.  It's a lame excuse, but there it is lol

Task 7 I need to set some milestones (I have the 2 mini ones, but no big one) and diarise my workout schedule - which admittedly is kinda hard as I don't know if I will like all of the classes I have picked and it's also a little difficult trying to come up with a schedule when you plan to go to the gym with someone else, but it's getting there.

Task 8 is to measure up.  While I know that I am not going to like my pics or my measurements (horrified probably! lol) I have decided that I am going to try and see how much I can lose in the round and how much I can transform my body!

I will post about each of these in more detail over the next coming days, but at least they have now been mentioned and the blog isn't looking so sad lol.

I am also so excited about getting our first week's meal plans tomorrow with the shopping list!  We did our first ever online grocery shop the other night and it was so great!!  As much as I love doing the grocery shop (not even kidding lol) the time we saved was incredible!  Plus, I don't need to worry about temptations in the supermarket!!

I'm so incredibly hungry today, but I also know that at this point in my cycle (sorry for the TMI guys!) I am just so famished!  I am looking forward to having a nutritionally balanced diet to help me out with this - I know from the past that it really does work wonders!!

Stress, Stress, Stress...

While this isn't specific to my weight loss, it is having an impact.

I am here to tell you all that I haven't made any form of an attempt to lose weight prior to the 12WBT.  In fact, I will even admit that I have been binging a bit... eating all kinds of crap.

The truth is, I am making excuses, but I knew that this is how it would be before September 12th, so I don't even really feel guilty.

At the moment, I have so much new and crazy stuff going on in my life.  I was really hoping that I could have it all sorted before Monday, and now I am even feeling the pressure about that...

Anyway, so at the moment, I am trying to pack up my flat as I am in the process of moving and learning what needs to happen to turn it into a rental property.  While I already have the tennant lined up, I still need to get everything ready for them.

My work is putting additional pressure on my to work late (and not get paid for it), and I feel like I am constantly in trouble for not getting enough done, even though they really need to employ a second person to help out with this role.

I am also trying to sort out the new place where I have moved in with my partner - I still haven't even put my clothes away!  I don't feel like I am contributing enough, because I am either at work or at the flat trying to pack it up (or trying to get to the gym).  While my partner is so supportive, I still feel guilty as I feel like I am just not around... even mentally!

I am looking forward to committing the time and energy to the 12WBT which starts this coming Monday, but I am terrified that I am turning into a zombie and won't even have the energy or time to commit to it.  I'm not saying that I won't give it a go, only that it could possibly turn into me "burning the candle at both ends".  I can't wait to get started, and I have so much support from my boyfriend and my friend who I am doing it with (as well as my cousin in NZ who just signed up too!! WOOT!) and I can't wait to actually have more energy and vitality that I know that this program will give me... it's just getting there...

I have been stressing out way too much lately, and even managed to give myself a migraine on Sunday - not good....

I just really needed to get this all out, I am hoping to get a lot done over the next few days so that I can really give the 12WBT all the attention I can on Monday.  I know that I am heavier than when I signed up, but that's just the way it is going to have to be this time around, that said, I really can't wait to watch my body transform!!!

Bring it on!!

Growing Our Own Food

Yesterday and today my partner and I have been buying up a storm to be able to grow our own herbs and veges. We have both always wanted a herb garden, and I have always loved the idea of being able to grow my own food (even if I am still learning to love veges lol)

Anyway, so we have grown foods that that either we both enjoy or that one of us enjoys (eg he loves tomatos and i cant stand them, and I love beans and he hates them lol)

So, as we are renting a town house at the moment, I have done a bit of research based off what I have read here on the forums (there has beent he most amazing advice for growing stuff on here!) and I also found The Little Vegie Patch Co Book at Big W the other night and I have found it GREAT to learn what I need to be doing - and it's Australian so it's all about gardening here!

So, we go the 3 year old out helping us (we also got her some pink flowers which are 'hers') and we have explained that we are going to water the plants to feed them and when they are big we can plant them and put them in our dinner. She was so excited!!

So, we have planted

• snow peas
• oregano
• spring onions
• leek
• tomato
• beans
• capsicum
• carrot
• broccolini
• spinach
• lettuce
• coriander
• basil
• thyme
• garlic

I also had the share the pics below of Miss 3 - the first is her helping us. The second is of her sulking after we told her off for "unplanting" the broccolini with the spade lol