Weekly wrap up

So I guess its time to do the wrap up of the week. Well. Frankly. I don't react well to not having carbs. There were more than a few tanties. One of which involved me literally ripping shit out of my locker and throwing it across the change room at work. Let me tell the backstory. We're short staffed at work. Its normally me and my bestie who pick up little jobs around the place. But she's in Japan. Lucky bitch, she gets to miss out on me adjusting to the diet.

And so everybody has been leaving the little jobs for me. Well, on Thursday I walked out of work at the very end of the day, 10 days on less than 70g carbs a day, 8 days solid training, exhausted. And found that three people had walked straight out the door, dropped their shit into the overflowing bins and kept going. When I got out of the facility, there were people sitting on computers, without packing up for the day. There were trolleys to clean up, and a whole area to shut down and lock up.

Shit did hit-eth the fan. I shut down and raged, and everybody else left early.

Good news is, I sent out an email the next day, requesting that they no longer leave the little bits to me. And was chatting to my supervisor later, and she was saying that she was feeling like all of these bits were being left for us too, and it was frustrating her.

***
I have had a good chat with one of the bosses at work. They are well aware of what I'm going through. And that I wasn't sleeping well. I was drinking too much (to fill the gaps) at the end of the day, and having to get up 2 or 3 times in the middle of the night to pee, so I was exhausted. They are well aware that this is only for another few weeks.

***
It hasn't all been that bad though. I've lost my treamill mojo. So I'm doing other cardio. Extra time on the cross trainer and I'm now standing up on the bike. And I've started cranking the incline and doing short jogs on that.

Training Wednesday night nearly killed me. I was uncooperative. I was tired. I needed a break. I did my best. And that's all Simon can ask of me.

Friday was much better. Trained well. The rest really helped. I did the alternate cardio set today, and should be back to full gym mojo soon.

I'm aiming to take next Friday off, and then train all the way from Saturday to Friday night. Measurements first thing Saturday morning. We're all prepped out and planned for it.

***
I am somewhat enjoying the diet. I have the most awesome salads for lunch. Dressed with balsamic vinegar and cracked pepper. And tuna. Of course.

Ricotta is not so bad. Really. If I find it boring I can crack some pepper into it. But I'm enjoying it plain.

Strangely, I'm not tempted by foods. A friend of mine was eating a sammich in front of me the other day, and I was quizzing her on how the bread was. And there were varous slices sitting there for everybody's consumption. I had a good look, but wasn't really interested.

I do chew pretty much all day though. Chewing gum is a lifesaver. And I'm in a much better mood when I have it.

***
I was dancing around in front of my mirror (in jeans) the other day, and discovered my abs are visible! I gave them a good grope, and they're freaking ROCK HARD. But they're still covered by squish. *sigh*

***

I am less than 2 weeks out from finishing. Its just dogged tenacity that keeps me going some days. I have started a blister pack of vitamins we got when we started. There are 15 vitamins in it, and its a visual reminder on my bedside table of how far away I am from finishing.

I have booked in for my spray tan too. 3 days out from last photos.

And I went shopping on Thursday night. Checked out some dresses and underwear. I can't wait for payday. I have picked out my 'reward' dress, that I'll wear on my last day. And another pretty everyday dress. And. Most importantly, I have found a good bra that supports and smooths the abdominal area too. Well, it makes it a bit firmer at least.

***
I am looking forward to the end of the challenge though. Its been a long journey and the past 2 weeks have been particularly tough. I don't care if I win or not. I was aiming for that to begin with. But to be honest, I'm so happy with how far I've come now. All I've learnt, all I've done, all I've lost. I'm a winner already. And I just want to have my freaking yoghurt back. I'm looking forward to the small things. I'm going for breakfast with Simon straight after measurements. And I want (though this can easily change) muesli, with yoghurt, banana, strawberries and honey. And a milkshake. Chocolate with a shot of coffee.

The Monday after we're going out to lunch at work. To celebrate the end of the bitchfest that I've been. And a mates b'day. And the return of my bestie. We're gonna share a jaeger (mushroom sauce) schinitzel, with rosti and crumbed mushrooms.

And on that same Monday I'm going to see New Moon in Gold Class. And me and my other bestie will have sushi beforehand, and scones in the cinema.

I don't want to go all out and binge when this is over. I just want the simple, plain things. I want my coffee, scones and yoghurt back. And I want to bake. I miss that.

***

Todays weight 73.5. Not really much of a loss. But going on previous measurements (of putting on 1kg muscle a week) its not really that bad. My jeans are definitely looser than they were. But my 'wish' tops are still tight. I'm pretty muscly through the shoulders.

Sooo

I'm on the downhill run. Almost there. I'm so close to the end of this, that I can practically smell it. This week I cut carbs. Seriously CUT CARBS. I mean, I'm literally having oats (sans milk) in the morning, celery & ricotta, protein bars, and baked ricotta for snacks, and tuna & salad for lunch, and meat & veg/salad for dinner. I can't have yoghurt or vita weats because they're too high in carbs.

Needless to say, this has been a bit of an adjustment. I've had to add cheese or olives or half an egg into salads. The day I had my last tub of yoghurt, one of my workmates was chattering to me about unimportant stuff. I was almost finished the tub and just wishing she'd shut up so I could savour the moment. In the end I looked up at her and told her that I do love her, but this was my last tub of yoghurt. She grinned and let me savour the goodness of the black cherry. It was then that I realised Pinks 'please don't leave me' was playing in the background. I thought it highly appropriate.

I also make up about 4 days worth of salad, prepackaged in tubs, in advance. I mix egg, penut butter or fish paste into the ricotta to make it less 'cardboard diary'. And protein too. When I bake it. With cinnamon on top. I'm very excited about trying banana ricotta with cinnamon tonight. Yummo! And I have 30g servings of turkey and pastrami frozen, for if I ever serve with plain ricotta.

I have had slip ups. Transitioning to veges and ricotta snacks was hard. Its about half celery, and the other half is cucumber, capsicum and two or 3 cherry tomatoes. The first day I went straight to the work fridge and had a protein bar afterwards. Fail.

And I've started keeping only a few protein bars at home. In the freezer to prevent excess snacking on them. They're bastards cuz they're extra chewy. So when they're frozen they're nigh impossible to eat. The rest of my protein bars are at work. In the fridge there. I have them as an afternoon snack, so I don't really need them at home.

I have resorted (once) to eating penut butter straight out of the jar. The penut butter now lives in the freezer, keeping my protein bars company. I'll pull it out when I need to make more ricotta mix.

Aaand, lastly. I have given up calorie counting. I know enough to be able to keep track of what's allowable, and what isn't. I just need to keep my carbs as low as possible. So I've stopped sending myself around the bend, trying to keep the calories low. Most of my intake is protein anyway, which I should be having.

Todays weight: 74.1. Up a little, but I'm still happy with it.

Wow. Again.

These are my results so far for the challenge. I think they speak for themselves.

Total weight lost: 8.5kg.
Total cm lost:23
Total muscle gain: 2.4kg*
Total fat loss: 10.9
Body fat %: From 31.65% to 17.4%. That's a difference of 14.25%.
Resting Heart Rate: From 60BPM to 41BPM

*After initial loss in the first 4 weeks, I've gained almost 5kg of muscle in the second.

Happy

So I lost my gym mojo. I went in on Sunday to do a quick set of cardio and a basic set of weights. I had places to be and family to catch up with. And I had to be there relatively early. When I left I was tired, and cranky. I hurt. And I was sick of the fact that the gym takes up ALL of my time. I mean, its not like I have the greatest social life, or guys lining up to date me, but I'd like to have the option of it at least.

*sigh*

I had no drive, no desire to go on Monday. I reaaallllyyy had to drag myself there. Most of the time, when I do, I perk up once I start exercising. Not Monday. No Sir-ee. I was in full blown PMS meltdown and all my body wanted was carbs and chocolate. I wanted chips and donuts. Despite the fact that the last time I had donuts was about a year ago. And as for chips - one packet before the challenge started. And I don't remember the time before. Yep. Full blown hormonal rebellion.

I did, as an aside, discover how to fake cake batter. If you mix Nestle Diet (cuz I fucking love it in all its creamy, no fat, low carb dietary orgasmness) with a bit of chocolate protein powder, you get the correct texture. That thick, gooey chocolatey mess. Yum. It has a very similar flavour. With the exception that it has a bit of a yogurt after-tang. But still, when you can't have, that's about as close as you're gonna get.

I took Tuesday off. I was feeling ever so slightly more motivated, but I decided that I needed a break. So I took it. Stayed in and did... nothing. Watched Buffy. That's it. I didn't cook. I reheated some Thai chicken/prawn soup. I didn't clean. I just.did.nothing. And it was great.

Today was much better. Had a coffee pre gym to make sure I was perked up. But I didn't need it. I was on fire. Running a bit faster than my norm. I hit my 3K mark about a minute earlier. Did legs with Simon. He told me we're gonna get me spray tanned for the last photos. And that we're going to revamp my diet as of next week. I told him the scales were going up. And he said 'Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Halfway through the challenge, if all is going well, you'll be putting on weight.' Gee. Thanks Simon. A little late with the info, but still much appreciated. Got complimented by one of the trainers during my session. Hit the cross trainer post session. Had some random woman appraoch me to tell me that she's been watching me for ages, and that I'm doing really, really well. Which put a hell of a smile on my face. Then the next thing I know, its 8pm and I'm leaving the gym. Absolutely on top of the world.

I'm glad I have my gym mojo back. Life is just better at the gym.

Week 6

So we're into week 6 of the challenge. Not quite at the end. Halfway mark is on Saturday.

So, to recap, started at 82.3. Last 'official' weigh in was 76.5. So in 5 weeks that's a loss of 5.8kg. Not too bad. I've clocked up 3 losses of around 2 kg, and stayed flat for 2 weeks. Those weeks being the conference, and the week before my last weigh in.

Which is not really my bad. Honestly. I went home to visit Dad and was working my butt off. I had tuna and vita weats at Maccas on every stop along the way. Not that I stopped a whole lot. And I went running/walking every day. I made my own chicken salads. Which was kinda hard in the face of the feast that Mum served the last night. Lasagne. Potatoes. Salad. Wine. And a fucking gorgeous cheese and tomato twist from bakers delight. Stupid me went and picked my favourite bread for dinner. I swear I can eat half of one of those all by myself. Annny way. I made myself a lovely chicken salad. And I really did enjoy it.

My downfall was the chocolate. Damn the chocolate. Earlier that day Mum and I had been to factory sales and they had Enerst Hillier choc coated fruit and nuts for $2/500g. I bought 2 packs and Mum bought 1. Mum opened up her pack and I was picking at it. Rather than take a few here and there I'd have a small handfull, walk away, and come back 20-30 min later for another one.

Weigh in was the next day, in the PM. I was dehydrated and had just been in the car for about 8 hours. So not really sure how that afected the weigh in.

Work outs have been good. I'm taking a much needed day off the gym. Did an epic session on Sunday (2.5hr) and have been killing myself at the gym ever since. Getting less painful each session. Had legs with Simon last night. So now my butt is extra sore. I guess I'm gonna have to get used to this. *sigh* But its worth it in the long run. I did sumo squats last night. I half half of my body weight on my shoulders. Just cuz I could. And then Belgian Split lunges. With 30 kg weights. I'm surprised I can even stand to sit.

I've also started doing protein shakes as I leave the gym. I have 2 proteins. One is good. Tastes like a coffee milkshake without milk. The other is not so good. Tastes like talcum powder in water with a vague chocolate flavour. I've also started having L-carnitine to assist recovery. 1 gram split pre and post workout. Strangely, its since I've started doing this that I feel sorer. Mayhap I'm just working harder.

Diet is going well. I am cutting back on carbs where I can. www.calorieking.com.au is a fantastic resource. Gives me a complete calorie breakdown of what I've eaten. I'm switching away from my museli in the morning, to rolled oats, protein and berries and cinnamon. Gotta give the cardboard some flavour.

AND I've changed around my snacks slightly. I used to eat an apple as I left work, and then some vita weats when I got home, pre gym. Now I eat the apple as I get off the train and head straight to the gym. Bonus! Means I get there earlier and I can save myself some time at night. Me likey.
One other diet change - my last snack of the day is a boiled egg. My diet is too low in fat, so having a little bit, with no carb, at the end of the day is the smartest choice for me. Much better than low calorie fruit yoghurt.

Conference

Ok. So its been a big few weeks for me. I ended up heading to NZ for work. Conference. And in all of its fully catered glory, I still managed to diet. Sort of.

First day I headed out to the supermarket to stock up on muesli, tuna and vita weats. Diet staples. I also found NZ has canned chicken. Low fat. Phwoar! I thought, 'Aus has seriously gotta jump on that bandwagon'. Until I tried it! Salty and with no texture. Seriously, Aus is better off without the canned chicken.

That first day was tough. I got up at 6.45 and snuck off to the gym. That's 4.45 by my body clock. Then a quick shopping trip, breakfast, and off to seminars. For a full day. They catered morning tea (pastries, from memory), and lunch. No idea what it was, I tended to avoid food times and head back to my room to eat. After the conference (8 long, loong hours later) I was knackered. And they bought out cheese. Blue cheese, foot cheese, brie, crackers, and free alcohol.

I ran.

Had a freakout in my room, then decided I wasn't going to let the situation get the best of me. I had some strawberries and headed back up to mingle.

Then dinner that night was impossible. Curried sausages, lasagne, and some kind of greasy chicken drumsticks, potato salad, tomato and rocket. No vego option. I asked the *cute* bar tender if there was one, and he told me the chef offered to make me pasta.

I left. In tears. It was really hard. All this free alcohol, right in my face. Tired, hungry. I just wanted to sleep. But ultimately I wanted this. I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone. How else does one grow as a person? I went to the bar and got some type of salad with cheese. Totally not diet, but better than what was on offer.Ironic seeing as I'd avoided the cheese so hard that afternoon.

Next day I decided to check up on the menu prior to the dinner. Steak and veges. Not too bad. I'd decided not to have the dessert. Until it came out. Try saying no to that.



And then I saw the alternative. And I got ridiculously excited.


Clearly, I had the alternative. And it was great!

Overall, I tried my best in NZ. I ate diet where possible, and good where diet was not. I went to the gym at the hotel three times (cardio & body weights). Sweated and grunted and groaned all the way. But I did it. The gym had an AWESOME view of wellington harbour.



And the days where I wasn't sweating it out in front of this view, I was walking around being all touristy.

Overall, I did quite well. When I jumped on the scales the night after I got back I was 80.9. Considering I don't really count any weigh in after lunch I was quite happy.

Busted my arse all last week at the gym. Diet is just sooo much easier to keep when you're in a routine. I was hoping to crack 80 this week. So imagine my shock when I weighed in at 78.7. Yup. Lightest weight ever! I don't think I'm going to get sick of saying that.

So far with the 12 week challenge (3 weeks in) I've lost 3.7kg.

Breaking it down

I know I've been away for a whole week, and I will post about it, at some stage. When I get around to it. But I've just walked out of a seminar at the gym and I need to clear my head and tally up some numbers. This is my basic dietary breakdown.

Today:
Cal:1156. Fat:21.1 (17%). Pro:73.7 (26%) Carb:166 (58%)

Yesterday
Cal:1266. Fat:28.5 (21%) Pro:84.6 (27%) Carb:159.6 (52%)

Tues:
Cal:1172. Fat:18.8. Pro:82.2 Carb:168.5

Mon:
Cal 1338. Fat: 27.7 Pro: 110.3 Carb: 155.8

Thurs:
Cal 1265. Fat: 23 Pro: 84.3 Carb: 175.7

Average
Cal: 1239.4
Fat: 23.8
Pro: 87
Carb: 165.1

Big week

So I've had quite a big week this week. Starting the challenge, starting a new diet/exercise regime, being sick and having a friend up for a visit. The first few days were ok. Getting into the diet was much easier when I was in the routine of work. I lost 1.1 on Friday when I headed in for a training session.

Friday was... impossible. I don't know if I can put into words what a struggle it was. Everywhere I turned there was someone eating icecream, or chocolate. I was tired, and hungry. Lunch was an ordeal. I wanted grilled fish, no potatoes, with salad. The waiter wouldn't let me do it. I had to order the salad separately. It came out loaded with oily dressing. Kez sent it back. Had to pick the best thing out of food court menu for a snack in the arvo. I chose the natural yoghurt with berries. It was actually a really tough decision, because I didn't think fruit would be filling enough. And I drank epic loads of coffee. Which was good cuz we used it as an excuse to sit down and watch the slappers, hotties and druggies of Kings Cross go by. I was exhausted by the end of it. Considering that was at 2 am, there's no real surprise there. I estimated that I walked 7-9km during the day, on top of training in the morning.

Next day, being yesterday, we headed out to Jenolan Caves. I seriously heart that place. It was slightly easier to diet there. I picked up a noice salad before we left, and took up some tuna with me. Plenty of fruit and water too. And several naps in the car. We did 2 tours, and a 'little' bushwalk. By little, I mean it was not a lengthy duration, and it was on a path. But that path was all stairs mofo. Up. All the freaking way.

Today I headed back towards the gym. In the past 2 days I'd dropped another kg. A full kg. That's 2.1kg in a week. No wonder I'm bloody tired! It was a good effort, especially since I'm heading away tomorrow and no knowing how I'll be there. But I really couldn't keep up loss like that for 12 weeks.

So. Official weigh in 80.3kg.

First Seminar

So today I had my first group seminar with the challenge. It was ok. I've studied nutrition at uni, so the basic introduction they gave us was a bit boring. But it was good to learn a few tips which will help with the diet.

A few moments of laughter. At people, not with them, which is so much more satisfying. One guy asked if he should give up coffee. When asked how many he had per day, and how many sugars, he replied 'three with three'. FARK. 9 sugars a day. What a waste of kilojoules! When told he should cut down, he asked 'can I have a caramel latte instead?' Fail.

The trainer was going through the signs of overtraining. He mentioned that it can interfere with a 'woman's cycle'. There were boys in the room. Then he mentioned something about a decrease in a mans libido. One guy asked if that was the thing on top of his kidneys. Um, no. That's your adrenal glands. Then someone told him what it was, and the comment echoed around the room - 'sex drive? I got no problems with my sex drive. My sex drive is really high. Really high'. I wonder if that's cuz he can't get any.

Adjusting to a new diet on a weekend is a bitch. I do have to eat a hell of a lot more earlier in the day to compensate for the fact that I use more energy earlier. I gave myself a headache on Saturday; was ok (just a little flat and tired) yesterday; and coped really well today. Its easier to adjust when you have a routine to keep you occupied.

Tomorrow I have lunch with the CEO of my company. Bugger. He's taking our whole department out to get to know us. And I'm gonna be the girl who refuses to eat anything but water. *sigh* I'm going to give it a go. Lunch is a little earlier than I'm used to eating, so I can easily resist the temptation, and have my tuna and vita weats afterwards. We'll see how it goes.

It begins...

Well, it has started. THE 12 Week Challenge. Weigh in, photos and measurements today. Weight was 82.4. Up a fraction on last week, but I'm still happy with it. When my account is all finalised online, I'll grab the measurements and post them here.

I've been so psyched to do this. Over the past 2 weeks I've been getting ready. I bought heaps of meat (chicken, kangaroo, fish, beef) and weighed it all out into 100g bags. Some of it got chopped up and marinated with herbs/sauces. So they're all ready to go. I made a playlist on my mp3 player that I never use. For running when the gym music is a bit dodgy. And I've wanted to listen to it ever since I made it. Been dying to listen to it, but I refuse.

I was so excited to start the challenge this morning, that I woke up at 6:30, wondering if it was time for me to get up and start my day. Being measured was an interesting experience. I'm very ticklish. When she was measuring my belly with the calipers, I was giggling, then she'd giggle, then I'd giggle some more. Then I'd relax (cuz you need to be to have the measurements done properly), and then she'd accidentally wiggle the calipers, and I'd be off again. They also took blood pressure (mine was a bit high) and heart rate. My resting heart rate is 60! A year ago, when I initially joined the gym, it was 90.

I had a session with Simon today. Then on to cardio machines (playlist rocks) for 10 more minutes running, and some cross trainer action. Then a cool down. I'm doing 2 sessions with him a week for the duration of the challenge.

Then I hit the shops. Needed laundry liquid to wash mah clothes. And I realised, just how tough this challenge was going to be. Normally, when I leave the gym on weekends, I have a boost smoothie and a grilled meat/vege wrap of some description. Not anymore. Normally where I'd head down the choccie isle, for a peruse (I very rarely buy), I had to remind myself not to. Walking past the bread - 'Can't buy that anymore'. Cherry Ripes on special? Nup, cannot has. Light and Tasty cereal? Forget it. Going to stick with my muesli. I was really struck by all these things that I can't even look at. Its called a challenge for a good reason.

From now on, this blog will be a pretty much daily record of how I'm going. I'll try not to do exercise regimes/food consumption posts, its more for things I find challenging and the rewards that will get me through on the tough days.

A year on...

So its been a year since I joined the gym. I remember my inital goal was to lose 15kg by new year. I have lost 13. 7kg in that time. I'm still happy with that result.

I can run now. Both fast sprints and sustained jogs.

I have bones. And muscle.

I continue to buy fucking white shirts, and dye my hair red. Which results in pink stains all over the neckline of the shirt.

And I have just joined a 12 week challenge at my gym. Its through all of the franchise throughout Aus. I am aiming for national prize. I don't care about the money. I want the satisfaction of doing it. Its gonna be sooo tough. I'm going to train more often. Probably twice a week. And really, really watch my diet.

Rough meal plan:
1 cup museli for brekky. With skim milk and berries/banana/shredded apple.
tub low fat yoghurt for snack
tuna and vita wheats for lunch.
apple when I leave work
vita wheats with a small amount cheese/lf philly (pre gym)
100-150g lean meat with salad or fresh/steamed veges.
tub yoghurt/bit of fruit if still hungy.
2 squares chocolate as a reward if I get through the day.

Challenge starts in a week. Game on!