Weigh In for Monday 26th

Well - did I meet my goal of 64 point something......Drumroll.......nah
Missed by a little - 65.2 kgs Monday morning - but that's ok - its still a 700gm loss which is nothing to be sneezed at. So next week - I'm aiming for a minimum of 64.5. Will she make it.....!!!!!
Had to have a bit of an "eating" day on Monday. Sometimes, about once every couple of months, I feel extremely lethargic/tired/hungry - kind of a worn out feeling. It feels like my body is tired from all the hammering I give it with restricted eating and significant levels of exercise, and it just needs a day off! On these days I decide to listen to my body and relax my eating for the day. So I went and had a delicious penne carbonara for lunch (very filling, very cheesy, very yum!) which used to be my favourite meal and I haven't had in 8 months, had a slice of pizza for tea before my weight watchers meal, and had a couple of M&M cookies after tea. My weight hadn't changed the next morning - but I felt so much better. The abdominal cramps had gone (does anyone else get these - sort of like hunger pains (maybe they are!)), and I had energy again, and was happy to resume my normal eating habits. (Keep in mind this was also the day after my 4 km run)
So I'm happy with where I'm at, and still aiming to reach goal in September, before the City Bay at the latest. Had a great Pump session tonight- upped all my weights ( had the highest weights in the class) , and felt quite energised afterwards.
Am really looking forward to Step tomorrow night.... Did I tell you they had 11 people last week while I was in Brisbane? There I am, turning up every week to find its cancelled cause I'm the only one, and teh week I go away they have a full class! At least they tried to ring me and let me know they had enough people - they even put out a step for me in case I ran in at the last minute! Ahh - the joys of being a regular in a small gym. So tomorrow - watch out cause here I come!

I Did It

Here I am, off to my first Fun Run, and .... I did it!
Unfortunately it was hard, very hard but I did the 4 kms in 25:50 - with no stops. This equates to 9 point something kms/hr, so overall I am very happy. My goal was just to run the entire distance, no matter how slowly which I achieved, but the speed is a bit of a bonus as I normally run at 8.5 kms/hr.

Treadmill to Road Run?
Having only run on the treadmill before, this was my biggest concern. So was it worse/harder??? Actually surprisingly I didn't think it was any harder, as long as I kept concentrating on slowing down. In fact in someways it was easier. The running outside was more distracting (a good thing, I need to be distracted from the pain of the effort!) because there was constantly a change in scenary, and I had to watch my footing as I ran down a walking trail that was a winding dirt track with a few dips and rises. This was good because it helped to stretch the legs and reduce the monotony. I also wore a headband because I was worried about the sweat running into my eyes as it does in the gym. But of course I have a towel handy there.... It was no problem at all. Either the sweat band did the job, or actually moving rather than being stationary on a treadmill created some air flow.

The Mental Race
I decided after this that running really does require mental fitness and strength. I spent most of the time fighting with myself, particularly the last km, refusing to let myself stop and walk. Kept saying things like "just one foot in front of the other" "don't you dare give in" "picture your goals - what you'll look like when you are thin, how good you'll feel when you run the last leg of the City-Bay", and I really think that if I wasn't such a fiercely stubborn, and doggedly determined person, I would never have run the whole race. Mmmm perhaps my vices have some usefulness after all!

My Picture
I have to say that I don't think my photos do justice to my new leaner body. I asked my hubby re this, as I tend to see a thinner person than what appears in the piccy's. He gave it some thought, looked at my image in the mirror, (that I see), looked at the photos, and agreed. He seems to think that the whole 2D image doesn't present a true picture. Do other's find that? (or maybe he's just being nice!)

Weigh In Tomorrow
Well I would like to hit 64.9 tomorrow, but I think the chances are slim as it would require a full 1.0kg loss for the week, and I have had fairly good losses the last few weeks, and at this stage of my journey, I really can no longer expect 1kg losses. However Saturdays weight was 65.0 and Sunday 65.3, so you never know - the weigh in could be good on Monday. Time will tell, and then I will let you know!

Cheers for now

Mondays Weigh In Sees Another Good Loss

Well - the official weigh in this morning was 65.9 - I was a little disappointed as I'd seen 65.6 a few times next week - but still - it is a 0.9kg loss which is very big for me. And it should make this weeks challenge a little easier - as I want to get under 65 kgs - which requires a 1kg loss - quite a challenge for me these days. We'll see
Anyway - its official now - only 8 kgs to go (well 8.9, but who counts the decimal points!)
I'm off to Brisbane today - if the hotel has good internet access - I'll post from there, otherwise - see you Thursday.

"80% of women think life would dramatically improve if they had a beautiful body...."

This is a quote from the July Edition of New Woman's magazine. Apparently they did a reader survey with "shocking" results.. they weren't that much of a surprise to me "the survey shous women are generally unhappy with, and want to change their bodies." What was interesting was that the average weight is 70 kgs (suprisingly low I thought), average height - 169 kilos, but goal weight is 55kgs! According to my calculations, this would mean that everyone is aspiring to a slightly underweight figure of a BMI of 19.
And does a better body make you happier? apparently 80% of us think so. Thinking it through for myself, I wonder if I subconsciously thought this myself. One of the things I have been dealing with is the negative feelings that come with weight loss - yes I think there are some negatives - and partly I think this relates to feeling like life should be perfect now that I don't have signficant weight issues. Admittedly, many things are now wonderful, I love wearing fashionable clothes, I love my new found energy and fitness, but you know what? I still get frustrated when shopping cause sometimes there are no 10's on the racks, just bigger sizes (can you believe that!) I still feel self conscious about how I look at times etc etc. And this may sound silly - but it can be depressing to think - why aren't I feeling happier, I should be on top of the world - but I 'm not. Perhaps this is fuelled by the perception that a beautiful body makes for a beautiful life??? Mmm - what do you think - I've created a poll on the left to see how others feel about it - so vote with your mouse and lets find out!

By the way - did my 4 km run at the gym today - 27 mins running at 8.5kms/hour. At times it felt a little tough - I think my heart rate was fine (forgot my monitor), but I did have to push myself. Kept trying to imagine running on the road and how different it might be - I guess I'll no for sure after next Sunday's Fun Run. Anyway - although it was a little hard at times, 5 minutes later I was fully recovered, and feeling like I'd only been through a light cardio session - so I guess I am totally up for it! Only way to beat those fears is face them head on - So bring on next Sunday!

PS - still no luck posting photos - very frustrating

A Sneak Preview

Interesting to see that my weight the last few days has been in the "65's" - 65.6 this am in fact! - Think I might make my weekly goal! Its also interesting to see that even though I've been having frequent (low point) snacks - my weight is actually dropping faster than normal - there's food for thought - I'm sure I've probably been over points a few days - but then I don't account for bonus points for exercise - maybe I've been eating too little previously? its such a complicated balancing act!
I got an email the other day about a 4 km fun run next weekend. And I've decided that it would be good for me to do it in preparation for the City Bay. Its only 4 kms and the City Bay's 12, but even so I'm scared to death! In my head I know I should be able to do it, but I've been concentrating my running efforts on interval training (you know, run for 10 mins, walk for 5 type of thing over 60 - 90 minutes) to build endurance, and I've only ever run 1 km on the road, and it was hard! (i'm a treadmill runner)
Silly I know - I'm going to have to make the transition some time if I'm serious about my City Bay goal - so it will be very good for me. Thought I would do a straight 4km run on the treadmill this Sunday instead of the normal endurance run - just to proved to myself that I can do it. Should only take half an hour...
I think one of the things about it that has worried me is that I watched my youngest daughter in a cross country race yesterday. She did a fantastic job - 2km in 10 mins (much faster than me), but the run looked ooohhh soooo faaaarrrrr! I guess when you run on a treadmill you're not aware of travelling any distance. But I loved watching the running techniques of the leading older runners - looking to see which was more efficicient/smooth/how much bounce/stride length etc, and picking up tips for my technique, and my quads were actually firing in anticipation of "that running feeling" - don't think I've ever felt that before - now I'm itching to run again on Sunday.
I'm off to Brisbane on Monday for work, and my boss asked me what I'll do about exercise whilst I'm away. A work friend butted in and said - "dont you worry - she'll have already checked out all the gym facilities at the hotel!" and its oh so true. (I've said I won't stay anywhere now without a decent gym). But my bosses pensive response (and he's been watching my weightloss journey with great interest) was - "what happened, what was the trigger that changed your from the old Lisa, to the new (health and fitness obsessed) one?" And to be honest, I couldn't answer him. I can think of lots of different triggers - but what has made it different this time? How have I become such a fitness fanatic - I really don't know at this point in time - I will need to give it more thought. But it was really nice that others are recognising me as a different person now.....

TBE Finale

Well, I'm back from my trip to Adelaide, and I'm now officially one year older.
Whilst I was away I diligently recorded my daily weight, points and exercise totals every day on my PDA - so I could download them when I returned and post them here. But I was away for so long that the battery in my PDA died on Saturday morning - and I lost everything! Not just TBE stats - but all my work documents too - aggh!
Anyway - I did quite well, and my weight on Day 10 was 66.8 (which it also was for my weekly weigh in today) so I have declared TBE a success! I lost 1.8 kgs (almost my 2kg goal) but I'm happy with that. It also means that I am now down to single figures in the KGs to GOAL count - 9.8 to go - WOOHOOOOO!

Exercise was great this week - I really enjoyed Body Attack. Have to admit I was scared shitless about going - as it is billed as high energy pure cardio - and NOT for beginners - and I was worried it would kill me! But I found that I coped just fine. Yes, my heart rate was up in the 90%ile, but I always push it up this high, and still find that I can pass "the talk test". And there were two times that we were required to sprint around the rather large room (on top of the constant jogging backwards and forwards that we were doing) - and I loved it! Half the class declined and jogged on the spot - and I couldn't believe that I was one of the fitter ones who was going for it! Given the fact that 3 months ago I couldn't run at all, I was rather chuffed (is that a word???)

By the way, we had birthday celebrations at out gym last Sunday (it is one year old) and it was good because it was very social and I met several like minded people (ok gym junkies like me), and we've decided to train together for the City Bay and do it as a team -cool huh? Also I met a man who I've watched running a few times as he runs and runs and runs, and then is totally drenched in sweat - and I mean totally - you could wring his clothes out. Any way - he told me that he's be coming since March, has never run before, and has lost 26kgs in that time - is that amazing or what? Thats like 8 kgs/month, or 2/week - quite phenomenal - he's not starving himself - still eating a big meal at night - has just cut out junk, and works himself to death at the gym! Quite inspiring I must say (although, yes I know its way to fast).

Speaking of Birthday celebrations, I had mine on Friday/Saturday - and had a great time at a Thai restaurant Friday night. My family surprised me with a coat I had chosen some time ago and put on layby ( I think I wrote about it). I was very excited - and have posted a photo of it. Its a Ripcurl jacket - long line, lambswool throughout. If this doesn't keep me warm, nothing will ! I also ate moderately Friday night, but on Saturday I ate soo many yummy things - I had a sausage in bread for breakfast at Bunnings ( my points count was out the window already as I never eat sausages and have no idea how many millions they are), a divine swedish chocolate toffee crisp bar at IKEA (ditto to the last comment), Wok in a Box for lunch, PLUS a spring roll, Spaghetti Bolognaise for tea (no cheese thank goodness) and a weightwatchers pudding for dessert! Who know how many points, but I just wanted to enjoy for my birthday! And guess what - no change on the scales the next morning - how is that possible! Must be the scales birthday present to me!

Any way must stop rambling on - its just that there's so much to tell after being away - will leave some for a later post.

Cheers
Next goal - to get under 66kgs by weigh in next Monday.

TBE Day 6

This has probably been one of my better "Weekend" days. I do find it much harder on the weekends. I reckon I could just about eat nothing during the week as work keeps me so busy I never even think about it, but weekends.... I really admire the way those who don't work manage to stick to the programme. Anyway had to work in the netball canteen this arvo - surrounded by lots of lovely lollies and chips, but made sure I didn't take any money with me, so that I couldn't indulge. But my best achievement was tea tonight. There were enough leftovers from Chinese last night for one person, and my hubby offered them to me for tea, said he would have crumpets, as he knows how much I love this. But I stood firm and said no, I would have the crumpets - he could have the left overs. This is big for me as its my absolute favorite - but I really want to see TBE work.

I don't know how I'm going to get on with posting after tomorrow as I am heading to Adelaide for the week for work, and the place I'm staying doesn't have internet access. GRRH. But I have booked into a gym - have decided I need to find a gym in Adelaide that I can use casually every time I go down for work - which is at least once a month. Am going to try out all their classes - including Body Attack (which is not for beginnings but my gym instructors assure me I'm ready for it), and Body Jam which is meant to be like the dance class I currently do. Am really looing forward to it.

Today
Weight - 67.5 (yeah - the Chinese meal didn't hurt) 1.1 kg lost in TBE
Points - 15 (mmm - a bit lower than I realised)
Water - Nil!!! its just toooo cold!
Treats - one small red frog
Exercise - Nil - its my allocated rest day for the week - and its soo hard not to do anything - still contemplating a Pilates DVD for stretching

Verdict - OK - the water's a worry though!

PS - when I pack tomorrow - I'm taking my scales with me - can't face a week without them!!!!!!

TBE Day 5

A reasonable day, with the exception of my water - this is slipping off again - have to push, push, push myself. We had a "family day" at the gym! I've managed to convince the manager at the gym to let me convert 2 free months membership (from signing others up) into extending my single membership to a family one for two months. So the family all came to try it out. My two younger daughters who live at home came, (plus a girlfriend) and we all did Rhythm and Groove (dance class), whilst my darling hubby had a gym programme set up for him. You can see the classes from the gym area - so he took great pleasure in laughing at us. But I took great pleasure afterwards in comparing training cards and showing where I was lifting more weights! Well in some areas anyway - I'm great on the leg press and core strength areas, but when it comes to biceps/triceps I'm an absolute weakling. I have been struggling on the minimum weight for these for ages (20lbs) and he's starting on 55 lbs - Men! sooo frustrating! I do have arm muscles though - will try and post a Team Sexy Arms photo for Rae sometime. After the gym we all went out for dinner - mmm Chinese. I kept my points low for the day and ate in moderation - hopefully it will be ok for tomorrow - but it is high in salt. My weight was actually up a little this morning, but my body fat % went down (I have digital scales that show you this) - so its AOK with me.

Today
Weight: 67.8 kgs (800 gms loss on TBE)
Points: 7 plus Chinese meal ????
Exercise: 1 hr Rhythm & Groove, 1/2 hr treadmill walk
Treats: None (apart from Chinese of course)
Water: mmmm about 600mls

Verdict: OK but a big fail on the water

TBE Day 4

You'll see from today's weight posted below - that I've now lost the kilo that I put on over the weekend. How can this be you ask? Well heres my theory. As an unashamed daily weigher, I can see how my weight fluctuates enormously from day to day, often regardless of what I have eaten. I see these highs and lows as not real gains or losses, just fluctuations based on hormones, water retention, and all sorts of things. For me to have really gained 1 kilo after two days of not so good eating would have meant that I had eaten 7,700 calories more than not only what I need to lose weight, but more than what I need to maintain weight. That's about 9,900 calories more than what I eat normally. Now eating a few pieces of pizza, a small amount of twisties and some cake was very indulgent of me - but couldn't possibly have come close to this amount of calories. The pizza and twisties have a high salt content, so they probably contributed to water retention. Also a dietitian friend of mine told me that the secret to long term weight loss has to be through exercise, because if lose weight through restricting your eating too much, the minute you increase your intake you will put on weight, because your body is used to eating such a small amount, that it holds on to the extra "for dear life". I think this is what happened with my eating "break out" - fluid retention from the salt - and my body holding on to its short lived "feast". But of course I've told my body "what for" again, and who's the boss, and the weight has kindly gone again. Well that's enough from the soap box for one day - here's a summary of today's efforts.

Day 4
Weight: 67.5 (1.1kgs lost)
Points: 18
Exercise: 1/2 hr weights, 1/2 walk, 1 hr Body Balance
Treats: None
Verdict: An excellent day all round!