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.

Weight Updates

Ok, so I haven't updated in AGES. Sorry. M'bad. So to recap, in my last update, I'd been staying pretty solid at about 83-84. And that hadn't changed up until Easter.

I had a really good Easter. Went away with fam and went off diet. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Chocolate, pies, cheese, bacon. Yep. I wanted so I ate. And naturally my weight went up. But it was worth it. From 83.1 to 85.1 in 2 weeks. It gave me a kick in the pants to get serious about losing weight again.

So I did. I worked hard, dieted hard, and lost 1.2kg in one week. I decided to take it easy for a week, and lost 0.7kg. I was all set to work really hard the third week, was getting some fantastic workouts at the gym and then...

IT happened. I got the call that Dad was dying. Naturally I flew down to Victoria immediately. Luckily, Dad pulled through, but my diet didn't. Two road trips to and from Victoria in 3 weeks. Time with the fam. Eating inconsistently. One moment I'd be denying myself roast pork, cauli/cheese sauce and gravy. The next I'd be guzzling a sugary fruit smoothie. My family got irritated, but eventually learned not to buy me food. I did do stair runs on the first time down, with squats/lunges/star jumps, and the second time I did get to the gym twice, but it wasn't enough.

Cue a raise of 3.5kg in 3 weeks.

*GULP*

So I've been working really hard since I've been back.I missed 2 sessions while I was away, so for the last and the coming week, I get 2 PT sessions per week. My trainer has been great I told him that I'd put on weight and he was working me really hard. And this week I lost 1.9kg. I will work equally hard this week.

Sick

But its a good thing. I haven't been to the gym in the past few days. No point. I'm sick. Which means no official weigh in.

But the unofficial weigh in is 81kg, wearing jeans, on my home scales. woot!

2 week update

The past two weeks have been a little odd for me. I had a few dates, so didn't get to go to the gym. Then there was the heat wave, in which I flat refused to go to the gym. So a whole week off the gym. And in that time I wasn't strictly dieting. I wasn't out of control, but I was ok with having chicken burgers with bacon.

And you know what, I LOVED it.

But I missed the wiegh in last week.

This week has been a bit more work, but only 3 gym sessions. And a weigh in... very close to my last recorded. So I'm actually ok with it.

This week I'm 83.9kg. I don't think I'll be under 80 kg by the end of Feb.

Jeans Buttons: 5/5
Muffin top factor: Out there.

Back on track

So I'm getting back on track. Todays weigh in was almost at my pre Christmas level*. I've kicked my compulsive chocolate eating, and am back to regular chocolate eating. I've begun personal training again. And its given me a pschological boost to want to keep going to the gym. I've decided to go back to weekly training, as soon as finances work themselves out.

Jeans Buttons: 5/5
Muffin top factor: Out there.

*which is fantastic, considering I've been on very potent pain killers for a tooth ache, and what's been going in hasn't been coming out.

Weight gain again

And yet I can do up another button on the jeans. Go figure. I may have to jump on the scales again today.

I ate way too much chocolate in the past two weeks, so I decided that yesterday I wouldn't have any. It was hell. I was a grumpy fucker, but I managed. I got a bit inventive when I wanted sugary bits. A low fat muffin, and later on low fat frozen yoghurt. Hell, I even refused to have a chocolate shake. Other than that, nothing really big to report.

Oh, I am regularly running at 10k an hour, for short bursts.

Jeans Buttons: 4/5
Muffin top factor: Extreme.

Post Christmas lard arse-ed-ness

Well, as expected, I put on weight this week. Boo. I estimate about a kilo. I weighed myself late in the arvo, where I normally weigh in the morning, and I have premenstrual bloating. So I can factor off some of the number.

But jeez! A kilo in a few days...

I haven't been to the gym since last Sunday. Monday/Tuesday I was feeling off (read:lazy), Wed arvo, Thurs and Fri it was shut. 5 days without a sweat. I knew I'd be up for a big session today before I even went in. But when I weighed myself I was so disappointed that I couldn't even register what the decimal measurement was. Hence the weight in the sidebar being listed as 86.?kg. I did a full on cardio session - walk/run for 10 minutes, then 10 minutes cross trainer, 10 minutes rowing machine (with break after 5 min), 10 minutes bike, then another 10 minutes walk/running intervals. Then onto weights. I did 9 machines, 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps, at uncomfortable but completable weights. The whole deal took 2 hours and I was shaking as I walked out of the gym.

Now I'm tired, and sore. I'm ready for bed.

I also have myself a new challenge. I have managed to acquire a pair of jeans that is a size 16. They dont quite go up all the way, but beginning this week I'll be keeping tabs on how far up those puppies go, and hopefully before long I'll be wearing them. Nothing quite like having a goal to work for.

Jeans Buttons: 3/5
Muffin top factor: Extreme.

85.7kg.

Nothing big to report this week. Except I jogged on the treadmill today. First time ever. It was a slow jog, only for 2 minutes and I felt as awkward as ass. I'm not used to the treadmill, but its a baby step.

Goal Reached!

Ok. So in my first post I said there were a few things I wanted. Well, among them was to fit into my old jeans. Appropriately. Well, I'm wearing them now!

I'm going to work extra hard this week and I'm aiming to be at 90 kg by this time next week.

I think I'll be living on soup and salads.

Kangaroo and Veg Broth.

1x pack French onion soup
1x pack chicken noodle soup
500g marinated Kangaroo meat (or beef strips if Roo not available)
1x large onion (2x small)
3x sticks celery (with leaves)
1x capsicum
2x carrots
1x tin baby corn
1x broccoli stalk

Bring 2L of water to boil. Add both packets of soup, Reduce heat to simmer. Dice meat finely and add to water. Add drained corn and coarsely chopped onion, celery, capsicum, broccoli stalk and peeled carrots. Finely chop celery leaves and add to pot as well. Fresh parsley and oregano can also be finely chopped and added for extra flavor.

Simmer until meat is cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tip: Kangaroo meat is notoriously tough, and very flavorsome. Cooking it in soup tenderizes it, and it gives an amazing flavor to the broth.

Low Fat Creamy Pumpkin Soup

1x large butternut pumpkin
1x pack chicken noodle soup
1x tin low fat coconut milk

Bring approx 2L water to boil and add soup mix. Chop pumpkin into squares. Add to pot. Reduce heat to a slow boil and cover for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Pumpkin will turn to mush as it cooks. When the sop has reached a desired consistency, add coconut milk.

Tip: If desired, double the amount of soup packets and coconut cream. Add a cup of caramelised onion for a sweeter kick.

Happiness is...

92.0kg

Fuck! Wank! Bugger! Shitting! Arse! Head and hole...

Weight gain. Again. Boo.

94.2kg

So I've had a really big last few days. Not going to weigh myself this week. Though I feel kinda gross for eating so crappily.

RESULT!

-2.2kg this week. Though I think some of that was off last week and maybe I jumped on the scales with a full stomach or something.

Was running up the stairs a few afternoons ago and felt like my jeans were going to fall off. I guess that's a good thing.

Highlight of my week was yesterday. I had the best lemon sorbet ever. And I didn't go to the gym either. Clearly yesterday was reward day.

Not a good week

This week wasn't as physically tough as last week. I was at the gym most days, and took Thursday off. I shouldn't have. I felt so heavy all day. Friday when I did my weigh in I'd only lost .3 of a kg. Not good, but better than putting weight on I guess.

I didn't have a personal training session this week. PT was sick. I'm going to do my weigh ins the day after training from now on. It would be way too hard to go into a session and give it my best if I am disappointed with my weigh in.

-0.9kg

So the gym is going quite well. Its been a week and I've been five days, for an hour or so each time.

It was difficult to begin with. I hurt. It was easy to get to sleep but difficult to get up in the morning.

MONDAY:
Went to the gym pretty much straight after work. I felt tired, but good. Attempted to go to dance class after and had an epic fail. I was tripping over my own feet. Decided to drop all but Monday night classes and concentrate on the gym instead. My dance instructor was ok with it. I'm cutting out of a class that's just started, and he doesn't usually let people do that. Had to go home and cook rice for tomorrows dinner and didn't get to bed til late. Absolutely exhausted.

TUESDAY:
Absolutely stuffed all day. Went to gym as per usual. In bed a bit earlier.

WEDNESDAY:
Very difficult to get out of bed this morning. I had chips with lunch. So had to do extra cardio. It hurt and I hated it. I despise the cross trainer and always jump on it first, just to get it out of the way. From here on in, I'll have to weigh up my options - I can have nasties, but only if I do extra cardio. I don't think it will be really worth it most times, so will be an effective deterrent.

The gym seems to becoming a habit. I may not want to walk out the door, but once I have my (gay, dorky) backpack on, its automatic. Plus when I get there its all on autopilot. I'm beginning to see how gym junkies work.

Didn't feel like eating when I got home, but made myself a small meal of peri-peri marinated chicken and steamed broccoli and carrots. Very late to bed. Won't want to get out of bed tomorrow.

THURSDAY:
Out of bed fine today. Must say I was surprised. I think I'm starting to get used to the work out. Had a banana whilst running around getting ready for work, and then some toast when I got to work. My arm hurts most of the day from chest presses. I'm still trying to figure out which weight works best for me. Also good news - no muffin top today!!! Granted it is in yesterdays jeans, so they might have stretched a little.

No gym tonight. I wanted to go, but I know I need to give my body a rest. I feel a little guilty. My other rest day will be Mondays, when I'm at dance class.

In bed by early/normal time.

FRIDAY:
Difficult to get out of bed this morning. But I guess that might be because its Friday and I just want to sleep.

Had a session with the personal trainer tonight. Jumped on the scales pre warm up. Lost 0.0kg. I was a bit disappointed after the amount of work I'd been doing, but as I type this I'm stoked. Did a bit of boxing, some interval training and then sit ups. The sit ups were an epic fail. EPIC. But we were laughing most of the way through, and it was really fun.