GOAL

My original goal weight was 65kg. This week I weighed in at 64.2kg! That makes 17.1kg since beginning this journey less than six months ago ... and what next? Keep going, follow the program, maybe after the half-marathon in August focus more on strength rather than cardio.

Three awesome things about today!

1. Last night I booked my flights to Brisbane for the Round 2 finale workout and party! They only cost me $119 all up; the return flight is paid for with my credit card reward points, and the flight to Brisbane was only $107 with Jetstar, which is an absolutely phenomenal price for Perth->Brisbane (it's actually less than my flights to Melbourne cost).

2. This morning I ran 14.5km, a distance PB for me. I did 13.9km at the Run for a Reason, but had only ever done 12km on my own before - as any fun-runner will know, you kind of get pushed along by the momentum of the other runners and pushing yourself on your own is harder. The speed wasn't great (average pace 6:30/km) but i wanted to make sure I could do the distance. Next week for my Week 4 mini-milestone, I will go a bridge further and aim for about 19km, preparing for the half-marathon in August.

3. After my post-run shower I sneaked a peek on the scales and they say 65.2kg!! That's only 200g from my initial goal, and a loss of 16.1kg since the start of this year.

*doing a happy dance*

Weigh-in day

1kg down this week. That brings me within 1.6kg of my initial goal. Eeep!! Today I bought a size 10 bikini online, really hoping that fits me for my progress shots because the two-piece I've been wearing since the start, is way too big and has GONE!

Miss Almost-three woke me a few times in the night, so I didn't manage to get up for my run, BUT my partner finished work earlier than usual and came with us to soccer training this evening, so I managed to squeeze in a 5km run around the park where the kids train. 442 cals ... add in the walk to and from work this morning & the ab exercises I'm going to do tonight, and that's ok.

Tomorrow: weights. Friday: to the gym for the first time in ages, hopefully work is quiet and I get out early so I have plenty of time before school pick-up.

Final weigh-in

The 12 weeks are just about up. I would have loved to end on more of a high - I feel surrounded by people who have been absolutely blitzing it the last couple of weeks and I haven't managed to. In the end, however, I am very pleased with my results on the program.

Final stats:

7.7kg (10.12%) lost in the 12 weeks.
12.9kg lost including pre-season.
27cm lost in the 12 weeks (my waist is now NOT in the increased risk for heart disease range).
A lot learned!

I will be back for Round 2. I wasn't originally planning to, but I decided I still have enough to learn to make it worthwhile. I'm only allowing myself one more round, though. I WILL nail it this time, I will create true and lasting habits.

Right now I am going to focus on Melbourne. Two sleeps to go!

The proof is in the pictures

These are last winter's jeans. They fit perfectly as recently as December.


THESE are jeans I didn't even fit into last winter. They still fit ok with a belt, so I'm keeping them for now.

Today I got rid of a gigantic bag of too-big clothes. It felt good. Now I have space for new ones ;)

Less than four weeks to go

We're in Week 9 of the 12 Week Body Transformation already! Wow.

So far, I've lost 11.6kg since the start of pre-season, 6.6kg (8.67% of my body weight) since the 12 weeks actually started. So it has slowed down; I've certainly not been perfect. There are now less than four weeks until the end, my tickets to Melbourne for the final workout and party are booked, and I have 4.5kg to go until my goal. Time to refocus and kick butt!

I recently looked at some family photos we had done before Christmas. I didn't realise until now that I really was overweight. No wonder people have noticed a change! Best of all, I can move more easily, my digestive system isn't playing up as much, and today I fit into a pair of jeans I still had stashed away from more than five years ago, before my second pregnancy.

(Laziness paid off a bit here. Last winter I needed new jeans, so I went to my favourite op shop on a 50% off day. I didn't have time to try things on, so I grabbed four pairs that looked like they'd fit and were in a style I like. At $2.50/pair, I figured I couldn't go wrong. Two pairs fit me and saw me through last winter. Two were quite a bit too small and I kept meaning to sell them on eBay. I never got around to it, and today they fit me perfectly! So I now have two 'new' pairs of jeans - one pair are Levis! - and one old favourite for this winter.)

This week

I got a new MacBook Pro. It's very cool, but taking some getting used to! I've been using an HP Netbook that Evie broke half the keys off ages ago, heh, and the space bar finally gave up the ghost. The advantage of hubby working in high-level IT? Gadget allowance!

Tomorrow is a bit of a red flag day: a friend's wedding and reception. Plus the two-hour gap between the wedding and the reception when I would normally eat/or drink. I have a big group training session on Sunday morning - that'll be my 1000-calorie super session - but I am going to go for a run tomorrow morning too. Birthday party for the kids in the morning, so it needs to be a quick one. I might give intervals a go, squeeze as many calories as possible into 30 minutes.

I got up to the 10kg lost mark this week! My next mini-goal is to get under 70kg, and last Wednesday I was at 71kg.

Weigh-in Wednesday

500g down this week. Not much, but it's something, and I had a bigger loss last week. I can pinpoint a few areas where I went wrong, but as long as the scales keep going down and I feel good, I'm happy. That's 7.3kg lost since starting pre-season, and I've already had to pack away a pair of shorts and a skirt that are just too big. I bought a pair of shorts and a dress on clearance in Target, size 12 and they fit!

Tonight is deadline night. Well, technically my deadline is noon tomorrow, but that's Sydney time, which is 9am here and right when I'll be at school dropping off the kids. So I usually submit last thing at night. And I eat while I work! Not tonight ...

Weigh-in Wednesday

Another 1.8kg gone! I'm so unbelievably stoked.

Rewriting my goals too, I think a half-marathon is completely attainable this year. I'm aiming for the City to Surf one at the end of August.

Another 1.5kg down!

That makes 3kg in two weeks, and I've also lost 5cm from my waist. Yay!

After Evie's swimming lesson today we went to the playground, and I used the exercise equipment to work up a bit of a sweat, plus some interval sprints across the playground. Poor Evie wasn't sure what I was doing, heh. It made the hills on the bike ride home a bit tough though, oof.

Weigh-in Wednesday

Apparently Weigh-in Wednesday is a tradition in the 12WBT, and since I obtained my starting weight last Wednesday, I thought I'd start keeping track even though it's only pre-season.

Last week: 81.1kg
This week: 79.6kg

I lost 1.5kg!

I'm stoked, because I've only been following the food plan since Friday, and have only exercised hard on two days. The other days it's just been my normal incidental exercise - walking to/from bus stops, chasing the kids around, housework.

I am feeling confident that once I establish good exercise routines I am going to ROCK this.

Introduction

Confession time: I don't like dieting, I hate the dieting industry. However, I need to lose about 15kg, and more importantly, inches off my waist as my waist measurement puts me in the high-risk category for heart disease. I am an emotional eater; I eat when I'm upset AND I eat to celebrate or reward myself. Also, while I'm relatively active and not too terribly unfit, I don't really raise my heart rate enough to effectively burn calories and fat.

So I am aiming for a "lifestyle change", but that's semantics really: it's a diet. It's time for harsh truths!

I am doing the Michelle Bridges 12-week Body Transformation. I do know how to eat properly, and I know how to exercise, but the frame of mind I'm in, I want someone to tell me what to do and give me that push.

At least, judging by the cookbook, it is real food, not artificial sweeteners and shakes-instead-of-meals. Yesterday I ate a poached egg on wilted spinach with toast for breakfast, and a chicken, eggplant and salad pita bread for lunch. And two cups of coffee (small amount of milk, no sugar) because I am not giving up coffee :P Pumpkin soup (no cream) for dinner, and a nectarine. I wasn't hungry, though I did feel the pull of the habit of eating lots at night-time.

In the interests of accountability, my current weight (as of Wednesday) is 81.3kg.