Here comes week 11.

It's hard for me to believe but there 12wbt is entering the eve of the start of week 11!  Up until this last week I've exercised 6 days a week, every week, rain hail or shine.  I've increased my running distance from 8km to 17km.  I've had a few fights with my inner Labrador and I'm getting better and winning.  I'm learning to stand my ground.

I'm currently having a little issue with the concept that "My Body is Perfect".  It is true that it does what it is told.  If I feed it crap and too many calories I'll store excess fat.  If I eat lean and train mean then I'll shed that excess fat.  That part I've got now worries with.  I'm just a little pissed off at my body's timing on getting this cold.  This time next week I will be relaxing after completing my first half marathon.  I'm meant to be training, and even though the last week was a recovery week it wasn't meant to be a no training at all week.  I WILL be going for a walk today to see if I can manage to do something without hacking up a lung - wish me luck!

Week 10's topic was all about "No More Self Sabotage".  For me the topic has come about at exactly the right time.  This week I made my 12wbt goal weight loss and while its not where I'm going to settle after watching the video I could see how I could so easily have gone about screwing up and where I have done exactly that in the past.  In the same few minutes it also dawned on me that I haven't been seeing the 12wbt as a diet and exercise program but actually as a lifestyle change, and its a change that I am ENJOYING.  Its taken almost a week on inactivity to show how much I'm enjoying exercising.  Don't get me wrong, I'd already worked out that I love going for my runs but not doing any exercise this week felt like a chore.

My dress arrived for the finale party this week too and I'm a little bit concerned.  It currently fits but I've got a sneaking feeling that it may actually be too big come the 20th August.  I do have a couple of back up plans in the wardrobe.  If the next dress in line is too big than it means that the second back up should then fit me.

This coming week is about "Saying Goodbye to your Inner Teenager".  I can see where this topic is heading but at the moment I'm actually getting closer to saying hello to my inner teenager.  I've got about another 4kg to go but once I lose them I'll be at a similar weight that I was in my late teenage years.  Now that's a pretty good place to be after 2 kids!

Read more...

The price of health

While I sit here feeling like death warmed up it dawned on me that this is the first time this entire winter that I've been sick. Some would say its just plain good luck but I believe its due to the good nutrion and exercise that I've been following.  I've just pushed myself a little be hard over the last couple of weeks with my running.  I've increased my distance from 12km to 17km in the last month and my body has said its time for a break.

This got me to thinking about a comment that was passed around the other day.  Someone was saying that I must have spent a small fortune on all the "fitness mumbo jumbo" so I thought why not write it down.  Just a warning I think I'm going to end up sounding like a VISA commercial.  So hears the breakdown:




My "essentials":

• 12wbt - $199
• New shoes - $220
• Gym membership (only 3 month cost not the whole year) - $95
• Child minding at gym - $70
• New training gear so I didn't have to wash every day - $100
• Sub Total = $684

My "extras":

• Run entry fees - $150
• HRM - 150

Total - $984.

Ok on the surface it might seem expensive and I must admit that in the next month or two I will have to fork out for another pair of shoes and I've nearly killed my current ones with all of the running I've been doing.  Obviously you don't HAVE to have a heart rate monitor but it keeps me honest.  You don't need to enter fun runs or events but it gives me a goal to train for and keeps me focused.  Realistically you don't even have to join Mish's program but its obviously worked for me and got my head in the right space that I haven't been able to do by myself.

So what has all of the "expensive" given me apart from some sore muscles?  Its' helped me remove over 10kg of weight from my body.  It has increased my fitness.  Its' increased my energy levels.  Its' decreased my risk factor for diabetes and numerous other weight related diseases.  All of which are truely priceless (ok I warned you about the VISA add).  You can't really put a figure on your health but the money that I've spent over the last 10 weeks has been worth every single cent.

Read more...

I'm one of "them"

I'm not one to follow the latest trends willy nilly.  I'm not up on the latest fashion styles but I'm not stuck in the 80's either (someone please let me know if I am!).  But I've been eyeing off the women at the gym and out running with their slogan singlets and designer exercise gear thinking that I'd like to have some gym gear like that.  I've never had the drive to enter a Lorna Jane store as I didn't want to be deflated by nothing fitting me but now that is no longer a problem.

Well thanks to a belated birthday present I'm now one of "them".  I am no longer a Lorna Jane virgin thanks to Helen.  The singlet that she gave me is pink with "Good, Great, Greater" on it and it's perfect.  It actually sums up my journey over the last few weeks quite well.  I loved wearing it to the gym this morning will I did my VO2 session followed by circuit.  The only problem is that without the arm covering I really need to remember a jumper for after my workout.

I've now got my eye on another two LJ singlets - "My Heart Loves to Run" and "Love to Run".  Which is so true to me.  My brain still has a little bit of a hiccup at the thought that I love to run. 

Today I'm off to buy myself a little present for losing 10kg.  I worked out a while ago that I'd like something to carry a few bits and pieces in while on my longer runs as the small back pocket on my pants just doesn't cut it.  My arms are also loaded to to this hill with my GPS receiver on my left and my iPod on the right.  While I can't remove my GPS receiver the iPod, and its associate arm band rubbing, can be removed.  After chasing down Helen for 15.5km last Saturday and eyeing off her spibelt I've decided that that's what I'm getting.

I'm also eyeing off running shirts with built in leggings too and I'm loving both of these.  Short legs for warmer weather and capri length for the colder but not freezing mornings.  Maybe I'll get myself a pair after I complete my next challenge....

Read more...

10 Down, how many to go?

It dawned on me this morning during my weekly weigh in that since the end of April, signing up for the 12wbt and joining the gym I've lost 10kg in 11 weeks.  Four months of running and thinking I was doing well with food had me 1.4kg so this is proof that Mish's program works.

I'll be honest, it hasn't been easy.  I've been watching what I've been eating, I've been training 6 days a week.  But do you know what?  I am loving my training.  I get a little bit down when something gets in the way of it and I try so hard to rearrange things so that I can get it done.

After my circuit class today I thought I needed a little physical reminder of what 10kg feels like.  Crazy me picked up a 10kg plate and took it over to the treadmill and proceeded to run (ok shuffle).  I got a few strange looks but just to feel the difference that shifting that weight has made.  Sure my clothes are starting to fall off me, the numbers are getting smaller but nothing beats the freedom that comes from being able to move so much easier.

I can see why on the 1st of January I had such trouble running.  Apart from the mental side of getting my head around the whole concept of running, the physical strain on my body was so much larger than it is today.

So where to from here?  At the beginning of this challenge I said my 6 month goal was to have lost 18kg.  That would put me at a goal weight of 63kg.  Now I'm not so sure about it.  I don't want to set myself a number to aim at anymore.  I just want to get to a place where I feel comfortable in my own skin.  I want to feel and be healthy.   I might find that place at 70 or 65kg.  I just don't know.

All I do know is that I didn't feel good at 80+kg and I won't be going back there again.

Read more...

Will you listen to her?

There she is again, popping up, trying to get through, but will you let her? The answer for most of us in this high paced stress filled world is no.  But if you ignore her long enough she WILL get through to you, she'll break you just so you stop and listen.  She doesn't understand numbers, be they what is flashing before you on the scales, the size of your jeans, she holds no weight.  She understands but one thing - FREEDOM.

For those that have attended a Stand Your Ground Workshop you will most likely understand the tears that started, and still are flowing down my checks from typing that first paragraph.  The effect the course had on me is still hard to explain and as the soreness in my back and arms from the fight sessions slowly drains away more and more awareness about the impact of the session is sinking in. 

Photo Care of Red Coconut Photography

I'll do my best to explain what I've gain and understood from the course so far but my experience will be different from everyone else that was there.  Each of us was there for our own unique reason and had our own lessons to learn.


So who was I talking about in that first paragraph you may ask.   She (or he) is your true self, your inner woman, the innate being.  The one that hasn't been manipulated by what society wants us to project.  She bases everything on feeling, not thinking and her one want is freedom.  She knows what is right and wrong but you may not always like the answer.

Every choice you've made to date has gotten you to where you are but what isn't plain on the surface is that for every time you've said yes to one thing, you've said no to something else.  For example when you choose to eat that snack you saying yes to the instant gratification but no towards eating what your body needs.

The fight training sequence also made it so clear to me the difference between being just turning up and training and actually being present.  We can all turn on robot mode and go through the motions.  Run on the treadmill staring at the TV, mindlessly repeating the same rhythmical movements or worse still sitting on the bike reading a book.  Or we can turn up and put on heart and soul into the training, screw what everyone else thinks of us as you train.  By training as a robot your state of mind hasn't shifted, it wasn't engaged with what you were doing, it doesn't understand the plan.

A comment that stuck with me was surrounding training be sacred.  It now makes sense to me why I enjoy getting out and running on the road.  Its not the fresh air, its the FREEDOM it gives me.  By turning off all the external distractions while I'm pounding the pavement it's all about my stride and breath.  It gives me a chance to just be me.  I don't care who's looking at me and what they are thinking, I'm no longer a wife, a mother, a daughter or a friend I'm just ME.  It gives me time to reconnect with ME and in those moments that you find "The Zone" the clarity is even greater.

All of this is still a work in progress, and I'm still processing the information but as I reach for the tissue box yet again I urge you that should you have the chance to attend a "Stand Your Ground" workshop, DO IT.


So my question to you is will you listen to her?

Read more...

The downside to shrinking

Before you ask, yes there are some downsides to shrinking.  Its not that I'm not happy with shrinking, in fact its quite the opposite.  I'm proud of my efforts and I'm estatic to see that its paying off both on the scales and in centermeters.

The first downside is the amount this is going to cost me.  However there is an upside to this one - I get to go shopping for new clothes and not feel bad about it!  When I started the 12wbt I was a 16/18 in the "big girls" clothes and if I was interested in a pair of pants or jeans in the normal range I would have been looking at a 20, so I just wouldn't look.  Anyway in the last week or so I've started buying a few new bits and piece because quite frankly I had too.  My jeans were falling off and even if I did wear a belt the bum in them was that baggy I could have been mistaken for a "homie".

Much to my surprise all of my purchases have been size 14 or M's.  Who would have thought that 7 weeks ago I'd be wearing a size 14.  I think I could happily leave the tag sticking out.  I don't think I've been a size 14 for about 10 years.

Now on to the second downside.  I'm looking for a solution in relation to my wedding and engagement rings.  My fingers have shrunk along with the rest of me and now I have to be careful not to shake my hands to wildly or that my girls don't grab my ring fingers or otherwise both rings will come flying off.  I tend to swell after training so then they are safe and secure but first thing in the morning is quite dangerous.  I don’t want to get them re-sized as if we decide to have a 3rd child I tend to retain water when pregnant.  In both of my last pregnancies I was wearing my rings around my neck. 

***I'll insert my little warning - if you're squeamish or eating then beware of TMI***
Lastly the weight loss, factored in with 2 pregnancies (one of which I put on 15kg of water weight in 8 weeks due to PE) have left my stomach a little worse for wear and I'm not just talking stretch marks.  I’ve got a bit of excess skin hanging around by the worst of it is occurring around my belly button.  The skin is over hanging where my belly button should be and its getting REALLY manky and gross.  I’ve even resorted to making sure its dried properly by blow drying it!  If I don’t do that it ends up starting to get red and infected looking.   I've tried baby powder but that doesn't work either.

It looks like I'm just going to grin and bear it at the moment and hope that some of my skin elasticity returns, but with the road map that written on my skin, I'm not banking on it.

Read more...

Finishers

I stayed true to my word and ran in the Gold Cost Marathon 10km.  It was a little bit of a rev up from my DH that started in March with him trying to con me into doing it.  I agreed that if I managed to complete the Mother's Day Classic 8km that I do the 10 at the Gold Coast with him.

Obviously by race day I wasn't worried about finishing 10km. After all I'd pushed out 13.5km a couple of weeks ago (all be it rather slow). My main goal was to finish it in under 1:15. My previous BP around home for 10km was 1:17:30 and that involved a few hills.

I've attached a copy of the route the 10km followed and as you can see it's pretty flat.  The lack of hills definitely helped me in smashing my goal but there was a head wind over the last 3km that made it hurt a little. I'm obviously not any good a picking a "race line" in between weaving in and out of other runner either.  According to my watch I ran a total of 10.28km so I probably added about an extra couple of minutes onto my time.  My official nett pace was 7:02min/km, or 6:51min/km when you include my poor line additional meters.  This gave me a nett finishing time of 1:10:28.  I also managed to crack a BP for my 5km of 34:11.


All in all on Saturday my DH and I would have travelled about 25km by foot.  I still don't know how people can complete a half marathon (or greater) as my feet have had enough for this weekend.  Even though I've pulled up really well I'm planning on taking it easy tomorrow with a light stretching session before contemplating an interval session on Tuesday.

Now I have to decide what run to do next .....

Read more...