So I have been at an event for work since Thursday last week and finally got back in the office on Tuesday. While at the event I couldn't attend training of Friday and Monday, simply because I was not going to make it back in time.
Don't worry, I made sure to eat well and I was physically active, walking and carrying things around so that I still felt like I did something.
Honestly I probably did more weight training over the 4 days than I do in training! Some of those boxes were heavy!!
Anyways so Tuesday saw me return back to my normal routine. (For a day or two anyways before I fly out to Sydney and rural NSW for my cousin's wedding.)
I rocked up at boxing and guess what? There were newbies! That means I am no longer the newbie of the group :) I felt like I was hard core because I knew the moves and knew what I was getting into AND because I made it around the park jogging, not once stopping and well ahead of a chick that was WAY skinnier than me. Sad that I take pride in that haha.
Then I did awesome in the two minute knock out rounds and barely stopped the whole way through!
Felt like I did my trainer proud last night :)
I have training again tonight then I fly out to Sydney and rural NSW tomorrow with my family for my cousin's wedding. We'll be over there for a week and I'm looking forward to it because we'll get to see the whole family, which we don't often do as we live on the other side of the country.
For those that don't live in Australia, living on the other side of the country IS A BIG DEAL. It takes a 3-5 hour flight to get from Sydney-Perth or vice versa. To drive across it can take 3-7 days. That's right DAYS! We did it once as a family and managed to do it in 3 1/2 days. That was doing 120kms/hour and stopping for sleep, food and pee breaks only.
So yeah, we don't see the family often and quite looking forward to it! Will push myself hard tonight in preparation for not doing training for the next week, although I'll try and keep active over there.
On other news, I have slowly been throwing out all my size 18 bottoms and getting size 16's. My wardrobe is now almost entirely full of size 16s and size 14s.
My goal is to get down to a size 12 top and size 14 bottom. ONLY ONE MORE SIZE TO GO!! :) At the moment I am the most even I have ever been between my top and bottom half (I'm a pear, so that's a big deal!) so buying clothes is lots of fun right now! I have to remember not to go overboard and that soon I will be dropping more clothes sizes :)
Tuesday 23 April 2013
Monday 15 April 2013
Friendships and doing what is best for you
There are so many bloggers out there that say they have lost friends on their journey to lose weight. And that saddens me. I am lucky that I have supportive friends. We are all different sizes and shapes but we love each other and support each others decisions.
For those bloggers out there that have lost friends, I often ask myself these questions 1. Did you try to explain your journey to them in terms they understand so that they know what role you want them to play? and 2. If they did not accept and support your decisions, could they really be called friends?
Now they probably sound like very harsh questions, but as an introvert I value and choose my friends with care and as a result only have a few friends. But quality over quantity is my motto.
Of course that's not to say you can't have lots of decent friends. Just that I don't.
Losing weight is such a personal journey. No one can understand what the other person is going through, because completely different things might have brought them to that point in their life and is now motivating them to change their life.
Someone who has never lost a significant amount of weight can never really understand the struggle and emotional issues tied up with it.
Someone who has lost weight still might not understand the issues. And often will believe they know they answer and will tout advice.
I have often received advice from well meaning others. At first I took it all on board. Then I got angry, feeling like they were criticising me for the way I was doing things, or for simply not doing things fast enough.
Now that I feel like I am doing enough, training 4 times a week and eating right, I feel like I can go back to the beginning, take it all on board, but politely say that I am doing all I can and am happy with my efforts.
Losing weight is a journey, in more ways than one. Often people do not know how they are supposed to react or be when you say you are losing weight. They do not know whether they should bring it up and congratulate you. When you say you've gained a kg, they do not know whether they should offer advice or commiserate with you or clap you on your back and say that you can do it.
It is often hard to know what someone else wants from you in terms of support. Some people are better at understanding than others and sometimes what you need is not what you want.
I think it is important to be upfront from the beginning and to be clear on how you want to be treated. For the most parts my friends will not bring it up unless I bring it up first. Then they say you look great and ask me what I am doing. That's all I want from them, and that's all I need.
If you are not up front, then you can be hurt by a friends misguided comments and this can affect your progress too. If even after being upfront they still continue to hurt you, do not waste time and energy on them- they are clearly not true friends.
For those bloggers out there that have lost friends, I often ask myself these questions 1. Did you try to explain your journey to them in terms they understand so that they know what role you want them to play? and 2. If they did not accept and support your decisions, could they really be called friends?
Now they probably sound like very harsh questions, but as an introvert I value and choose my friends with care and as a result only have a few friends. But quality over quantity is my motto.
Of course that's not to say you can't have lots of decent friends. Just that I don't.
Losing weight is such a personal journey. No one can understand what the other person is going through, because completely different things might have brought them to that point in their life and is now motivating them to change their life.
Someone who has never lost a significant amount of weight can never really understand the struggle and emotional issues tied up with it.
Someone who has lost weight still might not understand the issues. And often will believe they know they answer and will tout advice.
I have often received advice from well meaning others. At first I took it all on board. Then I got angry, feeling like they were criticising me for the way I was doing things, or for simply not doing things fast enough.
Now that I feel like I am doing enough, training 4 times a week and eating right, I feel like I can go back to the beginning, take it all on board, but politely say that I am doing all I can and am happy with my efforts.
Losing weight is a journey, in more ways than one. Often people do not know how they are supposed to react or be when you say you are losing weight. They do not know whether they should bring it up and congratulate you. When you say you've gained a kg, they do not know whether they should offer advice or commiserate with you or clap you on your back and say that you can do it.
It is often hard to know what someone else wants from you in terms of support. Some people are better at understanding than others and sometimes what you need is not what you want.
I think it is important to be upfront from the beginning and to be clear on how you want to be treated. For the most parts my friends will not bring it up unless I bring it up first. Then they say you look great and ask me what I am doing. That's all I want from them, and that's all I need.
If you are not up front, then you can be hurt by a friends misguided comments and this can affect your progress too. If even after being upfront they still continue to hurt you, do not waste time and energy on them- they are clearly not true friends.
Wednesday 10 April 2013
Feeling it today!
Wow am I on a blogging roll or what? Must be my 3rd time this week? Not that I have readers that will notice, but it feels good to share don't it?
Anyways, last night I had my third workout session this week. That's right, this week!
Damn, I'm becoming one of those fitness nuts. Uh-oh!
Anyways, I sure am feeling it today. Walking is difficult.
Not that the exercise were terribly difficult. But they sure worked you over!
So here is my workout for yesterday:
Warm up on the treadmill.
200 skips on the skipping rope
20 Commando push ups
200 skips
20 triceps dips
200 skips
20 whatchamacallits..your on the gymnast's bar and your bring tuck your knee's up while lifting off the ground?
200 skips
50 fit ball sit ups
200 skips
50 leg drops
Cool down on the treadmill.
So today I am tired. I am sore. I am hungry and just want to snack on all that delicious sugary food.
Does that mean I will? No. Because I am better than that.
But I will have a big healthy breakfast to get me started ;)
Anyways, last night I had my third workout session this week. That's right, this week!
Damn, I'm becoming one of those fitness nuts. Uh-oh!
Anyways, I sure am feeling it today. Walking is difficult.
Not that the exercise were terribly difficult. But they sure worked you over!
So here is my workout for yesterday:
Warm up on the treadmill.
200 skips on the skipping rope
20 Commando push ups
200 skips
20 triceps dips
200 skips
20 whatchamacallits..your on the gymnast's bar and your bring tuck your knee's up while lifting off the ground?
200 skips
50 fit ball sit ups
200 skips
50 leg drops
Cool down on the treadmill.
So today I am tired. I am sore. I am hungry and just want to snack on all that delicious sugary food.
Does that mean I will? No. Because I am better than that.
But I will have a big healthy breakfast to get me started ;)
Tuesday 9 April 2013
Eating Addiction
I found this article and thought I would share it. When reading this I was shocked to find that I probably ticked half of these before I started committing myself to losing weight.
http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/eating-addiction-5-warning-signs-youre-addicted-to-food/
If you are showing any of these signs of being addicted to food than it is advised to get therapy to work through the emotional issues associated with unhealthy eating.
http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/eating-addiction-5-warning-signs-youre-addicted-to-food/
If you are showing any of these signs of being addicted to food than it is advised to get therapy to work through the emotional issues associated with unhealthy eating.
Staying Positive, being strong and most of all be HAPPY!
The weight loss journey can be a long and trying one. There are lots of ups and downs, emotional and physical battles to be fought. It can be hard on you and everyone around you. It can affect your relationships and change your lifestyle to something completely new and unexpected.
It can also be really hard to stay positive. Especially when you are particularly stressed/emotional/sick/tired/injured and just plain unmotivated. It could be that you're not doing as well as you like, or someone in your life is doing "better" than you. It could be that you have something come up, at work or in your personal life, which demands all of your attention.
The important thing is to stay positive. To think of the good, not the bad. To think of the future not the past.
I am probably the biggest girl at training, including boxing. Not necessarily the most unfit (or at least not that far behind) but probably one of the biggest.
Yes, that can make me feel bad. Especially when we run as a group and I come last. I am not a good runner. I hate it.
When they talk about how much weight they have lost, it can make me have negative thoughts.
When they talk about how dedicated and motivated they are I often wonder why I bother. I am clearly not on their level.
When they talk about their next challenge, to run 10km, to bench press 20kgs, to hold a plank for 2 minutes etc I think, I'm not even close to doing half of that!
And yet, when they talk about their journey, they talk about the 5kgs to go. The stomach or the arms they hate. The loose skin that they despise. The friends they have lost because they didn't understand. The calories they have eaten that day. The workout they are going to do to make up for having a bite of a piece of cake or a glass of wine. (I am not saying that they shouldn't work it off, just pointing out obsessed they can be.)
Do they talk about how happy they are? How great they feel? How far they have come? NO.
Do they not understand that there are hundreds of thousands of women that have never achieved what they have, and would be happy with just that.
Listening to them talk makes me feel like I'm not doing enough. I am not pushing myself hard enough, that maybe I should just give up now because I will never be like them.
But then I think, I am happy. I am happy with where I am, who I am and what I am doing. I am committed to what I am doing, I am continually improving and getting better. But most importantly I am positive and happy in my life and it shows in my relationships and work.
I do not want to get to my goal weight and have it not be "enough". I am not one of those people that thinks that once I get to my goal weight everything will fall into place. It doesn't work like that. I know because I've been there before and I yet I gained weight and ended up at the beginning again!
I don't want to be miserable for the next 9 months and then once I've reached my goal suddenly be happy and want to go out with the friends I've ignored and might have lost because I've been focusing so much on me and weight loss.
Because it does take a long a lot of energy and time and effort to lose weight. BUT it is so much easier when you are happy. I have found that since accepting myself and leting myself be happy, committing myself is so much less effort. Yes I believed for far too long that because I was fat, I shouldn't be happy. I didn't deserve it.
It is so much more positive to be happy. It is less emotional guilt tripping and stressing because I have not reached a goal by a certain date. It is about being happy with the successes and continually improving so that there is only more to come. It is about enjoying myself, enjoying exercise and enjoying healthy food.
It is not about comparing myself to others. It is not about being disappointed in myself or thinking I am not good enough. I am good enough.
For everyone out there that is struggling: stay positive, be strong and be happy with your successes. Think of all those women out there who haven't even taken the first step to lose weight. Who might never have the chance to. Remember that there is always one person out there that will look at you and wish they were like you. Yes there is always at least one!
Fellow weight loss peeps will probably think that I am being unrealistic in my approach. That I am not being rational by not setting goals and reaching them, weighing myself on the scales every day and counting my calories every day. That I am too relaxed, that I am not disciplined enough.
Only time will tell right?
It can also be really hard to stay positive. Especially when you are particularly stressed/emotional/sick/tired/injured and just plain unmotivated. It could be that you're not doing as well as you like, or someone in your life is doing "better" than you. It could be that you have something come up, at work or in your personal life, which demands all of your attention.
The important thing is to stay positive. To think of the good, not the bad. To think of the future not the past.
I am probably the biggest girl at training, including boxing. Not necessarily the most unfit (or at least not that far behind) but probably one of the biggest.
Yes, that can make me feel bad. Especially when we run as a group and I come last. I am not a good runner. I hate it.
When they talk about how much weight they have lost, it can make me have negative thoughts.
When they talk about how dedicated and motivated they are I often wonder why I bother. I am clearly not on their level.
When they talk about their next challenge, to run 10km, to bench press 20kgs, to hold a plank for 2 minutes etc I think, I'm not even close to doing half of that!
And yet, when they talk about their journey, they talk about the 5kgs to go. The stomach or the arms they hate. The loose skin that they despise. The friends they have lost because they didn't understand. The calories they have eaten that day. The workout they are going to do to make up for having a bite of a piece of cake or a glass of wine. (I am not saying that they shouldn't work it off, just pointing out obsessed they can be.)
Do they talk about how happy they are? How great they feel? How far they have come? NO.
Do they not understand that there are hundreds of thousands of women that have never achieved what they have, and would be happy with just that.
Listening to them talk makes me feel like I'm not doing enough. I am not pushing myself hard enough, that maybe I should just give up now because I will never be like them.
But then I think, I am happy. I am happy with where I am, who I am and what I am doing. I am committed to what I am doing, I am continually improving and getting better. But most importantly I am positive and happy in my life and it shows in my relationships and work.
I do not want to get to my goal weight and have it not be "enough". I am not one of those people that thinks that once I get to my goal weight everything will fall into place. It doesn't work like that. I know because I've been there before and I yet I gained weight and ended up at the beginning again!
I don't want to be miserable for the next 9 months and then once I've reached my goal suddenly be happy and want to go out with the friends I've ignored and might have lost because I've been focusing so much on me and weight loss.
Because it does take a long a lot of energy and time and effort to lose weight. BUT it is so much easier when you are happy. I have found that since accepting myself and leting myself be happy, committing myself is so much less effort. Yes I believed for far too long that because I was fat, I shouldn't be happy. I didn't deserve it.
It is so much more positive to be happy. It is less emotional guilt tripping and stressing because I have not reached a goal by a certain date. It is about being happy with the successes and continually improving so that there is only more to come. It is about enjoying myself, enjoying exercise and enjoying healthy food.
It is not about comparing myself to others. It is not about being disappointed in myself or thinking I am not good enough. I am good enough.
For everyone out there that is struggling: stay positive, be strong and be happy with your successes. Think of all those women out there who haven't even taken the first step to lose weight. Who might never have the chance to. Remember that there is always one person out there that will look at you and wish they were like you. Yes there is always at least one!
Fellow weight loss peeps will probably think that I am being unrealistic in my approach. That I am not being rational by not setting goals and reaching them, weighing myself on the scales every day and counting my calories every day. That I am too relaxed, that I am not disciplined enough.
Only time will tell right?
Monday 8 April 2013
Progress report + some exercises you can do at home
So yesterday's sesh went down well, and because of the types of exercises it would be a perfect one to do at home.
So I do an hour work out, starting off with a 5 min warm up, normally on the treadmill. Then it was 3 rounds of 6 exercises. Usually this would be timed and you would have to do this as fast as you can, but because the exercises used weights and could easily injure someone if not done properly, we didn't time it. Once I realised just how easy it was going to be to injure myself I took it slow and steady until I felt comfortable with the exercises. Beating a time is not worth being injured!
So the exercises. You will need a step, a 5kg weight, a 15kg weight, towel and low bench. If you don't have the weights, just use something around the house that you think would be the equivalent.
First exercise: hold the 5kg weight in one hand, step up onto the step (both legs) then lift the leg on the side that does not have the weight and bring it up to your chest ( your knee is bent at 90 degrees). To work your core you should lean back a little as well. As long as your core is tight you shouldn't fall back. But be careful and take it slow until you feel comfortable.
Bring your leg back down to the step. Step off. Step back on and repeat. Do 10 on one leg, then swap the weight to the other side and do 10 on the other side.
Once you do that get down off the step and settle into a sumo squat with the 15kg weight in the middle of your legs. By bending your legs and keeping your back straight, grab the weight with both hands and bring up until your legs are straight. Repeat this 20 times. BE CAREFUL TO KEEP YOUR BACK STRAIGHT!!
Repeat the first exercise.
Next exercise: lay your towel down with the step at your feet. Place one foot on the edge of the step so your knee is at an angle. Lift the other leg up into the air as straight as you can. Now keep it there. Using the leg that is resting on the edge of the step raise your hips up as far as you can. Now lower slowly back to the ground. Be careful with this one. It sounds easy but you can feel it really quickly and can easily pull something if you're not careful. Do 12 on one side then swap legs and do 12 on the other.
Repeat the first exercise.
Last exercise: You're doing a lunge, except instead of having your back foot on the ground, rest it onto the low ledge. Your back leg should be roughly at a 90 degree angle. Do 10 lunges on one leg and then swap and do 10 on the other.
You've finished round 1! Now to do two more rounds and then finish with 5 min on the treadmill and stretch.
The exercises sound really simple, and easy, but I could definitely feel it into my second round and by the third I was starting to struggle. Good Luck!
Now to my progress:
At the moment I am doing a minimum of 3 sessions a week, with a second session of boxing thrown in on the weeks when I'm not busy. So I end up doing 2x hour sessions of PT and 2x 45 min of boxing most weeks.
So since I have upped my training I have really noticed some changes:
So all in all, not bad. Especially as it is only in April, and I want to get down to a size 12/14 by the end of this year.
Here is a group photo taken of my friends a few weeks ago. Myself (green scarf) and my friend in the yellow, have always been the "bigger" girls in the group. But when I look at this photo I feel like you can't tell that I am that much bigger than my friend in the pink, who is a size 12. I still have a long way to go, but it's nice to realise I don't look as bad as I think I do!
So I do an hour work out, starting off with a 5 min warm up, normally on the treadmill. Then it was 3 rounds of 6 exercises. Usually this would be timed and you would have to do this as fast as you can, but because the exercises used weights and could easily injure someone if not done properly, we didn't time it. Once I realised just how easy it was going to be to injure myself I took it slow and steady until I felt comfortable with the exercises. Beating a time is not worth being injured!
So the exercises. You will need a step, a 5kg weight, a 15kg weight, towel and low bench. If you don't have the weights, just use something around the house that you think would be the equivalent.
First exercise: hold the 5kg weight in one hand, step up onto the step (both legs) then lift the leg on the side that does not have the weight and bring it up to your chest ( your knee is bent at 90 degrees). To work your core you should lean back a little as well. As long as your core is tight you shouldn't fall back. But be careful and take it slow until you feel comfortable.
Bring your leg back down to the step. Step off. Step back on and repeat. Do 10 on one leg, then swap the weight to the other side and do 10 on the other side.
Once you do that get down off the step and settle into a sumo squat with the 15kg weight in the middle of your legs. By bending your legs and keeping your back straight, grab the weight with both hands and bring up until your legs are straight. Repeat this 20 times. BE CAREFUL TO KEEP YOUR BACK STRAIGHT!!
Repeat the first exercise.
Next exercise: lay your towel down with the step at your feet. Place one foot on the edge of the step so your knee is at an angle. Lift the other leg up into the air as straight as you can. Now keep it there. Using the leg that is resting on the edge of the step raise your hips up as far as you can. Now lower slowly back to the ground. Be careful with this one. It sounds easy but you can feel it really quickly and can easily pull something if you're not careful. Do 12 on one side then swap legs and do 12 on the other.
Repeat the first exercise.
Last exercise: You're doing a lunge, except instead of having your back foot on the ground, rest it onto the low ledge. Your back leg should be roughly at a 90 degree angle. Do 10 lunges on one leg and then swap and do 10 on the other.
You've finished round 1! Now to do two more rounds and then finish with 5 min on the treadmill and stretch.
The exercises sound really simple, and easy, but I could definitely feel it into my second round and by the third I was starting to struggle. Good Luck!
Now to my progress:
At the moment I am doing a minimum of 3 sessions a week, with a second session of boxing thrown in on the weeks when I'm not busy. So I end up doing 2x hour sessions of PT and 2x 45 min of boxing most weeks.
So since I have upped my training I have really noticed some changes:
- I'm eating smaller portions.
- I am eating more fruit.
- I have lost about 5 cm around my stomach and another couple around my waist.
- The other day I wore a dress that I haven't worn in about a year. It hadn't fit before then.
- I need to get more bras because they are all getting to big. Not happy about that one!
- I can stop myself from eating mindlessly i.e. I open a packet of chips and can put them away unfinished.
- I have stopped buying "snacks" for my drawer.
- I am having the biggest cravings lately for salad rolls and fruit salad. Seeing as it's a good craving, I am indulging in it!
- I have started reducing my dinner portions- this is the one I struggle with the most.
- I tried on one of my old work shirts, a size 14. It fit except for the arms. So note to self: need to work on arms!!
So all in all, not bad. Especially as it is only in April, and I want to get down to a size 12/14 by the end of this year.
Here is a group photo taken of my friends a few weeks ago. Myself (green scarf) and my friend in the yellow, have always been the "bigger" girls in the group. But when I look at this photo I feel like you can't tell that I am that much bigger than my friend in the pink, who is a size 12. I still have a long way to go, but it's nice to realise I don't look as bad as I think I do!
Wednesday 3 April 2013
Photos!
So I'm finally brave enough to post some photo's up here. There not so much as Before and After, as I am still not at the end of my journey. But I believe you can see how far I have come!
Before:
<I hate this pic!
Before:
<I hate this pic!
Now:
My arms are still big. But you can see that my stomach has shrunk a lot! Plus I have lost a lot in my thighs and hips. Which you can't really tell in this pics, but I'm no longer as "Pear" as I was!
Tuesday 2 April 2013
Small milestones!
Just a quickie post.
Yesterday I had GX boxing with the girls. Before boxing we usually do a lap around the park to warm up.
I HATE IT.
I SUCK at running. I always have. Everything jiggles, my legs don't go fast enough or far enough and I breathe really heavy.
I have often been asked if I have asthma. I've never been tested so I don't know. I just think I'm overweight.
Anyways. Yesterday I jogged the entire park WITHOUT STOPPING! WOOOOOOOOO!
First time for everything :)
It's the small things like that that makes you feel proud, and the difference between where I was and where I am now.
Clothes are getting bigger. I am getting stronger and fitter and I am feeling better.
And it is that feeling that is the most important. Because my confidence in myself, my body, my personality, is returning and it is amazing. I am finally getting back to the real me. The me that has hidden behind walls and junk food and my layers of fat and shyness for the last 3 years.
Watch our world , I'm coming for you!
Yesterday I had GX boxing with the girls. Before boxing we usually do a lap around the park to warm up.
I HATE IT.
I SUCK at running. I always have. Everything jiggles, my legs don't go fast enough or far enough and I breathe really heavy.
I have often been asked if I have asthma. I've never been tested so I don't know. I just think I'm overweight.
Anyways. Yesterday I jogged the entire park WITHOUT STOPPING! WOOOOOOOOO!
First time for everything :)
It's the small things like that that makes you feel proud, and the difference between where I was and where I am now.
Clothes are getting bigger. I am getting stronger and fitter and I am feeling better.
And it is that feeling that is the most important. Because my confidence in myself, my body, my personality, is returning and it is amazing. I am finally getting back to the real me. The me that has hidden behind walls and junk food and my layers of fat and shyness for the last 3 years.
Watch our world , I'm coming for you!
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