A Day of Gratitude

I just wanted to take a moment of reflection today to say thank you to all the lovely people out there who've been supporting me during the past 15 months and continue to do so, cheering me on, pushing me forward and even sometimes pulling me along.

My wonderful soul sister, Wendy, who I credit this day to saving my life by having a conversation with me last April and encouraging the both of us to share our weight loss together.

Trainer Luke, who got me started and went gently enough with me in the beginning that I kept coming back.

Trainer Christian, who showed me that I was capable of so much more than I ever imagined.

To all the wonderful people on CK that take the time to comment on my blog, you all keep calling me an inspiration but you have no idea how inspirational you all are, I'm not going to name names because I'm sure I'll leave someone out and feel bad, but I love you all.

My friends and work colleagues, who have all been so encouraging, telling me how great and well and healthy I look and have supported me, sponsored me and encouraged me all the way along!  And still continue to!

To my wonderful new boot camp girlfriends who helped me rediscover the party girl in me!

Trainer Heath (Trainer Nate's brother) and his wife Maria for their encouragement and support particularly with Hypoxi.

And then of course last but never least Trainer Nate.... who continues to show me how to believe in what I'm capable of, how to continue to strive for the best me I can be, and who inspires me and so many others to live, laugh and love in the now and to enjoy it with as much zest and passion as possible!

I christen today my day of gratitude and even though these two little words can truly not express all that I feel, I simply say thank you.  Thank you all! x

Enough slacking off...

OK, so I'm moving forward with my plan, I have had to have a talking to myself, because I just feel like I've slacked off, nothing too major just eating a bit more than I should be and not taking my exercise to the max, and slacking off from my runs. 

So my birthday is in 31 days so I'm committed to hitting everything hard for the next four weeks and maximising my results.  I did a big shop and cook up yesterday, so everything is in place it's time for me to follow suit.

Trainer Nate and his brother want me to have another Dexa scan after this round of Hypoxi, and I want it to be worth their effort and mine to do this!  I'm set up with seeing Trainer Christian on Monday's in addition to my other boot camps and we have the Bridge Run on the 19th September so there's no room for slacking off, I can save that for my birthday weekend! :D

I just bought a hot new outfit and I'm wearing it out Saturday night (apparently I'm getting a spray tan too) the top is strapless and blue, both new for my wardrobe, and I even went and got properly fitted for a strapless bra so the top looks it's best!  The following week I have my High School Reunion so there's lots going on and lots of things I need to look my best for, and then to round it off at the end of the month my own birthday which will be a bit of rebirth in of itself!  Last year I was still about 110kg so this year is just going to be fantastic! 

So my head is down my bum is up and I'm going to see myself into the 70's before I am 38! :D  Wish me luck!

Making a plan....

OK, so after a night out to the AFL with the girls and a rest day on Sunday, I've decided to go ahead with another round of Hypoxi, it's only four weeks and will finish with still a week or so to go till my birthday.

So I've decided to include visits to Trainer Christian on Mondays, for the 4 weeks as well for that extra push.

So my schedule will look like:

Mon: Trainer Christian

Tues: Boot camp

Wed: Hypoxi

Thurs: Boot camp

Fri: Hypoxi

Sat: Boot camp & Hypoxi

Sun: Run

It looks full on I know I can trade out a boot camp or the Sunday run for rests where needed, and some boot camps may involve an additional running session with the girls in training for our 9km, some sprints and the like.  Hypoxi days if I do nothing else are relatively easy almost like rest days! It's only for four weeks and I feel really motivated to get as close as possible to goal before my birthday as I can, it would be a great way to ring in another year!  Also if I do similar cm results that should quite easily result in another dress size.

I like having a schedule to run with, since I've been back from the snow I've had no particular routine so to speak, and it leaves me feeling unfocussed!

The session with Trainer Christian last night was at his new studio I haven't seen before, it boasts a nice hill up to the end of the cul-de-sac that he likes to send us up and down inbetween sets of pushups, squats and sit ups!  He and Trainer Nate would get on so well they are both sadistic bastards sometimes hehehehehehhe!  But it felt good to really work hard, and with no one else there that I really knew I could just focus and get on with it.  At one stage we had to do the hill 3 times, I tell you I had to keep saying in my head over and over if you did the City 2 Surf you can do this!  He said if we needed to walk so be it but damn it I wanted to show him and myself I could run it, so I really pushed myself to keep running at the top of the cul-de-sac I kept saying get your breath back here on the down hill run.

I also realised despite my excessive picture taking I'm still not quite caught up in how I really look (I even took a pic of myself in my workout gear, to see how I looked, and was surprised to find my hips weren't as big as I expected them to be! Weird hey!  Still some work to do on my thighs though bahahahahah!).  One of the other girls in my class had also done Hypoxi and was showing us her results, and I was shocked that our measurements were so close, because in my head I saw myself as bigger than her, but I was forced to really look at her and see that I was of a similar size (chunkier thighs!) it was eye opening but hard to process at the same time. I still cringe a little inside before I see a photo expecting to see the 130kg I used to be I suppose.  I mean I think I dress like someone who realises they've lost weight, I just can't always seem to see it! It's definitely an ongoing process!

PS My shirt says Your Life Begins Now!  I have about 4 of them that all say different things, they look like Lorna Jane shirts but cost 10 bucks from Big W! hehehehehe

Making the decision or letting it make you....

I've found myself a little tired this week.  Been doing a lot of thinking.  And I just feel a little caught in the middle.  See I'm not quite where I want to be yet, and to get to where I want to be, I need to make more changes in my life... but part of my is still trying to catch up with all the changes I've already made!  She just wants to take a breath and learn how to really grasp and "believe" that these changes and accomplishments she's made are real and she's not going to wake up tomorrow and be fat again!  And so caught in the middle of all of this is the me that is tired and feels like she needs a little break from it all! 

I ran into a friend I'd seen about six weeks ago, and oh my, she made such a fuss that you would have thought she hadn't seen me for a year!  Don't get me wrong I love the positive feedback, but really that much of a change in six weeks, I don't see these changes in the mirror! Maybe I had just dressed really well that day! hahahahaha  People keep using the word skinny to describe me, I find that one really DIFFICULT.  It makes me want to lift up my top and show them my tummy rolls or my flabby thighs.  Healthy yes, slimmer than I used to be yes, skinny, nah! 

Maybe I just need a few early nights and then I just have to suck it up and make the decisions that need to be made and get off my arse and do what needs to be done.

I'm out of any kind of routine at the moment have been since I came back from the snow.  My morning boot camp classes were supposed to start up again next week but have been postponed again.  I'm not too devastated about it, I've formed a great bond with the girls in my evening class, but I had made some plans based on the morning stuff and now I have to redo it all again.  I want to get out to see my sister's trainer (Trainer Christian) and I need to keep some running going for the next couple of fun runs.  But on top of that my trainer wants me to do another round of Hypoxi, and well my results were so fabulous last time the idea of another 4kg's and 30 something cm's in 4 weeks would have me VERY close to my goal weight!  The bonus being there would be a really good focus on my legs which is where my Dexa scan identified would be the best place to lose weight from. 

So that would mean 3 boot camps a week, a session a week with Trainer Christian, 2 runs a week and 3 Hypoxi's.... seems like a lot hey, but I guess the Hypoxi is so light weight and easy (I'm lucky to get a 250 cal burn from it) it's just like a warm up really.  Is too much on top 6 other sessions?  For four weeks to just get that push to the goal post?

For some reason at least when I'm focused I don't feel this tired.  I like knowing what I've got to do and just going to do it...... I don't want to decide by default, I'm just not 100% sure what to do right now.

What do you girls think?

Edit: Before I even got a chance to post this I had a call from Trainer Nate, and had a bit of a chat to him about it.  Nevertheless I'm curious to know what some of you out there who follow my blog think? x

There's a new party girl in town and she's me!

Well I had a bit of a sulky day on Friday, I'll even admit it bled a little into Saturday, but we had a good morning boot camp session that helped drive the cobwebs away. After a refreshing shower it was off to my sister's for a birthday bar-b-q.  My nephew turned 18!  It's always lovely, we always have a good laugh and a lovely lunch and catch up on all our gossip. 

I have a friend who turned 40 during the week and had arranged dinner in the evening, so late afternoon I headed off home to get changed.  I didn't know any of the other people going to the dinner (not that that was an issue, I need to get out and meet new people), but I did invite one of newer friends from Boot camp (Friend 1 - just makes it easier right! :D), as she had nothing to do anyway!  We had a lovely time!  The people were a hoot and the food was delicious.  We ended up chatting quite a bit to a lovely gay couple who we employed the use of their gaydar while checking out the rest of the room! hehehehehehe.

Later we got a text from another friend (Friend 2) who was not having a good evening, our other friend (Friend 3) had mentioned that she'd be at the Ivy that night for a birthday so if we wanted to head on down we should.  So we decided what the heck, friend 2 met us at friend 1's house and we grabbed a cab and headed on down to the Ivy to meet Friend 3.  Anyway we eventually found Friend 3 and we even ran into Trainer Nate, who was well... somewhat hammered, which was pretty funny!! But seeing he now has access to this blog I'll refrain from further comments!  (*Hi Trainer Nate! ;P*)  Like last time the four us girls were out we had a lovely night and met some of Friend 3's friends and danced and laughed which is always the sign of a good night to me!

Sometimes I feel like I am re-living my 30's the way they were meant to be lived.... I've never been a big party/clubbing girl, but I know if I want to meet someone I have to actually put myself into situations where I am 1. getting out there and 2. meeting new people.  And I really feel I'm starting to do that, and not only just do it, but enjoy doing it!  And it helps that my new friends are single too!

However, there is a disclaimer... hahahahahaha I am going to have to watch those late nights, I didn't get home till about 4am and I think I'm still recovering!

Watch this space if your interested in my ongoing night endeavours, I believe there is more to come! hehehehehe

Building a bridge....

So guess how much trouble Trainer Nate is in.... I seriously wanted to give him a couple of head bashes last night!  He was telling us this story on Wednesday about a fight he was watching where this guy just sat on the other guy and punched him like 300 times and the guy just took it... that's the kind of thing I was imagining last night!  BUT at the same time I have to accept my own personal responsibility, I knew from the beginning and I didn't push to get him to double check. 

WTF you are all saying, well we discovered that along with not being able to count, Trainer Nate, can't measure! :P  He had been measuring the beep test length incorrectly, which seems fair seeing he just takes 20 steps instead of using a tape measure.... so basically all my beep test results since the February have been false :(  (See it's all still about learning what you are willing to let yourself believe and what you are willing to face up to! :P)

Those extra three and a half extra feet don't seem like much until you are trying to beat that damn beep and you feel that the return shuttle is on a slope!  I'm whinging I know I'll build a bridge in a minute and get over it.

So the results sit like this:

Beep test: 11 (really going from last real test 5.5) ------------- 6.5 smaller improvement than I'd hoped (gonna try again in two weeks and aim to hit 7.1)
Pushups one minute: 54 ----- 53 (girl pushups - once you get over 50 it's a bit whatever! :D)
Wall sit: 315 secs ----------- 330 (5 mins 30 secs)
Plank: 140 secs ------------- 201 (3 mins 21 secs - last time was a bit pitiful, if I remember correctly my previous best is around the 3 min mark so I think this is a PB)
Flexibility: 16 --------------- tbc (I think I might have gone a little backwards on this but then again this was the first time he used a proper tape measure and not a guestimate on the paper pad - yep that's another dig at you dude because I can!)
Pushups one minute: 28 ----- 33 (guy pushups :D)

So no use whinging a lot about it really the beep test stuff goes back on the goals list I'd eventually like to build up to a 10, but have a way to go. 

Yes I admit it was somewhat demoralizing, only because it was such a huge drop and we all felt it almost immediately.  See sometimes this is why I like my smaller incremental improvements, I don't question those! hehehehe  BUT at the end of the day it's a mistake right!?  We are all human and it does not take away from the achievements I've made including the City 2 Surf, the fantastic dexa scan results, or how good I feel in my clothes right! :D

So I'm having a little sulk and tomorrow it's back to Balmoral and a busy weekend ahead with my nephews birthday lunch and a friends birthday dinner! 

Have a great weekend folks!

Relax and enjoy!

I'm a little confused while my time was consistent, there's a discrepancy between my placing in the paper and on the C2S website... so I guess I'll just go with what's on the website right.

Net time: 01:38:34 (98:34)

Place: 33043 (out of nearly 68,000 finishers!)

Gender: 11517

Cat. Place: 4079

I'm not 100% sure but I think it means I can qualify for green next year if it's sub 100 mins.  I don't have totals for the last two (hope to come across them!)

The pictures are OK, not my best! hehehe but show me and my girls about to grab hands and then holding hands so proud, even better is the video in which hysterically funny you can hear me woohoo over everyone else... I maintain I was just placed near a microphone! hahahahahaha

I realised that I'm still coming to terms with my body!  I insisted I needed a medium t-shirtm, I knew it was too big as soon as I put it on, but there are times that I still feel I need to hide myself somewhat!  It all comes with time and experience right?  After seeing the photos, I've opted to get a singlet top like the girls (we are going to be doing some more runs and will run in our smurfette shirts like our own little team!).  I think I still feel exposed in my work out gear (you know without my sucky in underwear hahahahahaha)

One of our other boot campers who hummed and ahhhed about doing the City 2 Surf and then didn't has agreed to do the 9km Blackmores Bridge run with us in September and then we are going to do the 10km Sydney Olympic Park run.  Trainer Nate is going to help me work on my speed so that when I do attempt a half marathon I will feel more confident about being able to do it within the time limits! :D

So let's list out these new goals:

•  Rejoin running group in 10km run
• 9km Blackmores Bridge run (19 Sept)
• 10km Sydney Olympic Park run (7 Nov)
• Reach goal weight
• Start playing round with maintenance
• Try some new things!  I wanna try a Crossfit Class, I might consider taking up bike riding (maybe buy a cheap bike to muck around with!) Maybe do a bit of swimming this summer! Take a dance class, is Zumba in Parramatta? hehehehe
• Increase my running speed
• Relax and enjoy all the good things happening in my life!

What are your goals for the rest of the year?! :D

City 2 Surf 2010

So today was the big day, and I come to the end of it with a huge great big tick!  

The City 2 Surf!  A major end goal for me this year, here I am with my girls and our medals, red and sweaty faced, but totally proud because we did it, we got to the end.

Initially I was sure what to expect, when Trainer Nate said he wanted me to run it all, I really didn't focus on speed, but a couple of weeks ago, just before my trip to the snow I ran a 14km training run in around 1:45, so I figured that was a good goal. 

We didn't end up running the whole race together, because one of my main aims was to run the whole thing, I pulled away from the girls slightly on heartbreak hill when they paused to walk.  But in the last kilometre with me in their sights they caught me and we hammered it home, grabbing hands and raising them with a cheer as we crossed the finish line together, and the bonus as we grabbed hands I spied Trainer Nate to the right of us cheering us on! (He started in a group behind us but quickly overtook us to finish the race in 68:30).  Our finishing time 1:38:and tbc seconds (will check the paper tomorrow).

Here we are with him, dubbed by him the Smurfettes after registering in the blue group, we went so far as to have t-shirts printed and then on the back we paid hommage to Trainer Nate, with our slogan "We love to hate, Trainer Nate".  Hehehehe He loved it!  Oh and that's not my bare arse in the photo it's a pink bum bag! hahahaha

So lots of big ticks for me, run the whole race, TICK, finish in under 1:45, TICK! Simply finish TICK! Do it for my mum, TICK! Make trainer proud, TICK!

So let's have a little recap this year:

1. I did my first ever fun run
2. I participated in the Mother's Day Classic
3. I completed (and ran the entire) City 2 Surf
4. I joined a running group
5. I reached 100 pounds (over 45kg's) lost
6. I've bought clothes in sizes 12 AND 10!
7. I appeared in a magazine
8. I have another magazine appearance pending
9. I had a dexa scan with great results
10. I had my dream trip to the snow!

I mean wow that's a phenomenal year!  Now I need to look forward to some new goals.  The things I have left to do are reach 50kg's lost and that's not far off, go horse-riding again (cause I can), try indoor rock climbing (because why not?) but what else now what do I face?

Possibly a half marathon?  Work on increasing my running speed. Get to my goal weight (or happy body shape), learn how to maintain!  Look at doing my Cert III and IV (even if it is just for me).  Lots of things still to do or aspire to! The sky really is the limit right?

Dexa Scan Results

Well the results are in, sorry for the late post but I went straight from my scan to a double training session so haven't been able to get to a computer!

So biggest shock was my height! I'm not 176cm.... I'm only 171cm!  I'm shocked I tell you shocked, all this time I thought I was 5'9" and I'm only 5' friggin 7".... I maintain I was taller when I was fatter.... and younger....

So first off my bones are great, the average bone weight for women is between 1.5 and 2.5kg's not to be outdone, mine weigh 3.05kg's so I'm not big boned but I am "heavy" boned!  This bodes well for me and means I have a low risk of osteoperosis.

I have 21.4kg's of fat which equates to 26%, lower than I expected.  The acceptable range is 21 to 33% so I'm in a good spot.  However Jarrod said I should be able to do 22% easily, 20% wouldn't be hard if I wanted either.

The great news was my muscle mass, 56.7kg's, the average a woman should aim for is 40kg's, so considering my past, my age, and my height, I'm well above average.  So my total mass was 81.1kg, despite my shrinking height, the ideal for me is 75.6 - 76.5kg's  so 75kg was the perfect number for me to pick.  Even though for my height this would make my BMI overweight.  Jarrod said a doctor would tell me based on BMI I should be 66kg's BUT based on my muscle mass that's ridiculous for me! So as we've discovered, BMI is not indicative for a lot of people!  See Jess something else we have in common.

You want to know the funniest thing, one of the reasons I have this muscle mass is because I built it to help carry the load of all my fat!  How funny is that! 

So Jarrod said even if I lost 5kg's of muscle he wouldn't be worried I'd still be well above average.  So my trainer is thinking 5kg's fat maybe 2-3kgs muscle, would settle out nicely.  He's gonna back me of the weights a little bit and and after the City 2 Surf on Sunday I need to decide if I want to look at a half marathon.... even Jarrod mentioned it as a goal, and he said it's easier than the City 2 Surf because there are no hills! 

So my RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) is 1813 per day (gotta love that muscle mass).  So he recommends 1900 cals a day and a minimum of 2500 cals burnt a week, that should generate about an 800g loss a week.  Now I'd say I'm eating a touch more because I burn a touch more and since I started to this week my weightloss equates to an average of a touch over 700g a week, so I'm good with that.  Even if I dropped to 500g a week average I can be at my recommended goal by my 38th birthday!

Also my abdominal fat was 370g which is low risk for diabetes (low risk for women is under 600g, so I'm well under which is good, diabetes runs in our family!).

So all in all really great results, I've been doing everything right, eating enough to fuel my training, training enough to maintain excellent muscle mass, and my goal is spot on for me.  My height was surprising but hey it's not something I can do anything about! hehehehehehe, but I really thought I was 5'9".... 

So another box ticked, I'm totally where I need to be... the next thing is getting Sunday done and then looking forward from there!

OH by the way.... I had a phone call today and I've been asked to participate in a photo shoot for another health magazine tomorrow... so I'm off to bed to get my beauty sleep and I'll let you know how it all goes! :D

And yes I recommend you get a Dexa scan, there is no way I could have predicted how high my muscle mass was and how this might effect the scale weight I was aiming for.  I say get one so you know your goals are personalised to your OWN body composition, and basically to ensure you really are eating enough!

Snow beautiful snow!

I'm skiing!!!!

I'm baaaack! Oh I don't even know where to begin.  I had the most AWESOME time!

So let's see.... we left very early and I mean VERY early 3am on Tuesday morning.  We stopped for coffee and later for breakfast and a petrol top up.  Then we stopped at the hire place before heading up the mountain.

Now just putting on your ski boots and walking from the car park to the snow entrance with your ski's is a workout in itself, seriously you need a nap by the time you get there! hahaha

Did I mention that Trainer Nate was also going down the snow the same week, total coincidence, I go over to get my day ticket with a lesson and come back to the car and who has pulled up beside me in the car park.... yep Trainer Nate and his mates, HOW FREAKY is that! hehehehehehe.  Anyway that was the last I saw of him so I hope he made it home in one piece!