Slowly, ever slowly, I'm getting there...

Just ducked over to Mum's to weigh myself for the first time this year. When I'd jumped on the scales just after Christmas (and all its indulgences) I was happy to see that I had managed to remain at 97kg... hell, I was relieved.

I really need to remember to take my glasses over with me when I do this... cos I can never see the damn numbers clearly. I had to ask mum to tell me what the little red pointer was pointing at because I couldn't be sure. But what do you know... it really was pointing at a new set of numbers.

95!

That's right. Two more kilos have been thrown away. They will not be returning. I will not be looking for them. I don't want them back. I'm two more kilos closer to the end of year goal of 80 by Christmas. My size 16 jeans need a belt to stop them sliding down my arse. All I need now is a job so I can afford to pay for the new clothes I'm going to need, all my netball games and a return to the gym.

:o)

Hey folks... it's the other one. ;o)

Okay - so Steph is officially AWEsome!

She is, without a doubt, a major inspiration for me and the whole "get fit, get healthy, get rid of the fat (both on my body and in my head)" lifestyle change that I've been on for a while now.

I'm doing things a bit slower than Steph - partly because I'm flat broke and can't get to a gym. But... the four teams I now belong to for netball are definitely working out for me.

I weighed myself at the doctor's the other week.
I'm 97kgs.
Yep.
I've hit my goal for the year with a month to spare. I am under 100kgs BEFORE Christmas!
I could not tell you the last time I was under 100kg.

So, since September last year I have gotten rid of 20.2kgs.

And that means that since my 30th b'day, when I estimate I was rocking out at the 140kg mark, I have gotten rid of 43kgs.
I have friends who weigh that much.
I've taught kids who weigh that much.
How the hell was I carrying that much extra weight around, for god's sake?

So now I am going to keep plodding away, doing my thing, and aim for the final goal of 80kgs by Christmas 2010. But I'll be honest - if I'm only 90kgs by then, I won't mind. Cos I'm feeling pretty good about myself these days. I can look at my reflection and not hate it. And part of that may be due to the fact that a guy, a real honest to goodness, breathing guy, has seen me naked... and liked it (but that's another story with some bitter sadness attached). But it's also due to the fact that I'm starting to like myself. Which makes a really nice change.

Later.

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.

I've got a new fave number...

101kg.

I'm sure I'll stop smiling soon.

Cracked!!!

I'd finally given up all ideas of cracking 83 kg. I'd hovered around 83/84 all year. Bastard weight was going up and down like a freaking yoyo. And I was getting seriously bored with cardio. ITs only taken me a year. So I decided to be more serious about weights and just going in and enjoying myself. And look what happened.

12/07/09: 83.8kg
18/07/09: 84.8kg
25/07/09: 82.8kg

Yep. I've finally done it. Lightest weight ever.

Wow.

Just. Wow. Last weeks weigh in was 83.7. My best weigh in to date has been 83.1. right before Easter. Then it was 83.2. Right before Dad got sick. I'm so close to beating it I can practically smell it. So I worked with that goal in mind, all week. I have been sick though, so couldn't really work as hard as I'd wanted too (intense exercise makes breathing kind of hard).

I felt good as I stepped on the scales. I didn't meet my goal, but it didn't wipe the smile off my face. I was 0.2kg above my lowest recorded weight. 83.3kg.

Starting on the treadmill I felt really good. I decided that since I was feeling better, today was the day for me to beat my personal best with running - 13.2km/hr. I was moving quite freely on the treadmill and moving up by 0.6km/hr increments every 20 seconds (instead of my usual 0.5 every 30), and I managed to hit 13.4km/hr. New personal best. Then I walked for the remainder of my treddy time, at a hell of an incline.

But the best bit of all - I am now in my size 14 jeans! That's been my goal since I put on the size 16s. Granted, there is a degree of muffin top, but the right top disguises it completely.

Has epic happy.

Update-age from MissE

Saw that phish had posted and felt a bit guilty... so here's the quick update from me.
According to the WiiFit that I set up for my Mum yesterday, I am currently 105.5kg. This is .5kg less than I was last Friday at the Doctor's... so yay. Mind you, it also told me I'm still considered obese and that my BMI is woefully high. God knows what it would have thought if I'd stepped on at the start of all of this slow and steady weight loss... when I was somewhere beyond 130kg and looking seriously at the size 24 clothes in the "You're Big and We Know It" section of Target.

But now, I'm wearing size 18 jeans from Jeanswest. I can fit into the L size at Crossroads, instead of just getting into the XXL. And more and more of the clothes in my cupboards at getting looser and looser and looser. My fave "loose" item currently is the pair of "Basque Woman" pants that I bought early last year. They're a size 18 and when I bought them they were a little bit tight. And then for the bulk of the year, I put on a little bit of weight and I couldn't get into them comfortably at all. Well, not anymore. I've actually had to use the two little waistband "tighteners" so that I can keep wearing them for work purposes. ;oP

I'm still not going to the gym, coz I still can't afford it. :o(
But I am playing mixed indoor netball every Sunday and going for walk/jogs when I can. Come next week, there'll also be a weekly netball training session coz our team wants to improve... we've lost all bar two of our games so far and some of those losses have been serious floggings.

So bring on the current goal of under 100kg by Christmas. I know it seems a small drop from where I am now but taking it slow and steady is what is working for me. Setting a reasonable and small goal means I don't feel over-pressured and that is what can trigger stupid eating decisions and excessive couch potato-ing.

Later!

I has a happy!

So I'm down to 83.4 this week. Damn, the scales have been all over the place the last few weeks. Up and down more frequently than a freaking yo yo. But I'm back to weekly PT. Which I love.

But aside from the weight obsession... I got the all clear at the dentist yesterday, and the all clear from the optometrist today. And I was wearing the Jeans Challenge jeans, which had very little discernible muffin top. So I'm feeling pretty darned good, let me tell you.

I have a new pair of jeans to challenge myself with. But I'll wait til next week to begin that one. Right now I'm happy with my accomplishments.

And its measurement day...
01/03/09
Waist: 94cm (down 3)
Hips: 105cm (down 6)
Thighs R/L: 57cm/59cm (up 3cm total)
Arms R/L: 25cm/25cm (unchanged)

Today's weigh in was a little strange.

I normally weigh myself pre-exercise in the morning. But today I weighed myself at the end of my cardio set. Out of curiosity, I have previously learnt that I will put on weight during exercise (all the H20 I drink). First the scales told me 83.0 (woot) then in the space of 3 seconds, they went to 83.5. Humm.

So I'm confused. Do I put down as 83.0, or 83.5. Or do I go for middle ground?

Again, not much to report. 84.3kg today. That's a total loss of 12.3kg to date. Best Christmas present. EVAH!

But with Christmas coming up I'm not expecting to be losing much this week. I've had 2 Christmas parties last week, and I managed to do quite well with them. One more to go. I've already picked what I'm having. Thai beef salad. Lettuce = good.

I've been quite slack the last few days. Well, when I say slack I mean I've had more give in my diet. I am trying not to focus so much on weight loss at the moment. It is still a priority, but its not an obsession. I have worms. Have had them for months now. And I've been treating it like a good thing. That's a bit OTT and not really healthy. I'm trying to change that, but its a bit of a battle. I don't really have much else to focus on right now, and this attitude is so ingrained it is going to be hard to kick.

Well the new diet does seem to be working. The past 3 weeks has seen weight loss of 3.8 kg (8lb). I'm still sticking with the gym, and still doing my own meal plan. It does have some gastric issues. And by that I mean I get some uncomfortable stomach cramps at the gym, and I'm always guessing as to when I'm going to poop, and what its going to be like.

Apart from that, I think this diet is doing pretty well. For the past 5 months I've had no sex drive. Sad but oh, so very true. I figure that was initially a result of work stress, and then as I moved into the new job and started hardcore dieting, it was put down to massive energy deficit. Well, on the new diet, even though I'm still losing masses of weight, the sex drive has come back. With a vengeance.

So I said I'd upload pics too. Well, here they are. They're not pretty.

Start date: 08 August 09
Weight: 96.4kg , 212 lb
Waist: 111cm
Hips: 127cm
Thighs R/L: 64cm/66cm
Arms R/L: 32cm/33cm

Midway: 16 November 09
Weight:87.7kg, 193 lb
Waist: 96cm
Hips: 111cm
Thighs R/L: 61cm/63cm
Arms R/L: 34cm/31cm
I would also like to point out that this is officially the smallest I've ever been in my adult life.

I'm still here though.

So I have no bloggy mojo right now, but I still have weight loss mojo, which equates to being able to post here.

I'm only down 0.3 kg this week, but there was cake. Four times. *sigh* too many birthdays this week. I'm still on the shakes. They work. But more importantly, they're bloody easy to make, so when I don't want to cook... there they are. I've had a shake for each of the past 5 meals. And I'll probably have one for dinner too.

i'll eat solid food tomorrow. I swear.

Trying somthing new

I'm trying meal replacement shakes. For one meal per day. The plan prescribes 2 per day, no carbs, and works without exercise. I think that's bullshit because I'm at the gym pretty much daily. I choose to tweak the system, and have the shake for lunch, or for dinner after the gym when I don't feel like cooking.

I had a shake for munch today. And was freaking hungry, so I followed it up with a snack of 4 crackers and a tin of low fat tuna. And a large banana.

We'll see how it goes.

Quick Ramble

So I haven't posted in a few weeks. My bad! I've been pretty stable the past two weeks, and have dropped a (tiny) bit this last week. But I feel good. Last week I kind of went 'fuckkit' and had a few relaxed diet days. And DAYAM they were good. I had chocolate. A whole Summer Roll to myself, and a pack of Choc Oranges! And sushi (rice = carbs), and salmon (oily fish). Things I would normally have as a treat. I just ate because I could. And I needed a protein hit, so I also had bacon (lean, obviously) and eggs for dinner after the gym one night.

And I only went to the gym four times this week too. Monday's workout was short but intense! It was great. Wednesday I did half a session of cardio and then a body balance class. Thursday was PT. And it left Monday for dead. So I didn't spend as much time working out as I normally would. I must have done about 40% workout time. But it worked. Somehow. And even though I ate crap, I still managed to drop weight.

The highlight of my week - catching a view of my thigh in the mirror as I walked past (obviously nekkid) and going back for a second look. Its beginning to look toned! Its still big, just not as jiggly as it was.

Bad week

So I went to the gym Monday.
I did a bit of walking to warm up and then did my weights (added in the bicep curl machine for variety) and finished with some cross trainer.
Ended up rather dizzy and light headed so went and sat down for a while before doing my stretches.

And then I weighed myself.

Talk about a downer... and I don't mean my weight. That was not down at all. That was up 5 fracking kilos is what that was.

I was soooo utterly depressed by those stupid numbers.
And part of me wanted to disappear into the nearest junk food supply and chow down until the year ends.
A completely irrational and stupid response, I know. And one I didn't end up indulging.

But it kinda knocked the wind outta my sails, so to speak. And last week was a bad one - I didn't get to the gym at all after Wednesday. And I ate more than I should have. ARGH! I'm fighting major stresser-triggers for emotional eating at the moment. Stupid work. Stupid uni. But... gym tomorrow. PT with the little blonde nazi... I'll tell her and she'll get me moving.

And my arms really hurt - the muscles on the inside bend of my elbows... talk about OW!

Less of me...

So, after the evil lunges of Wednesday morning my legs were very very :o(
I didn't get back to the gym until today.
Had planned to go yesterday but was not feeling very well at all.
So I went in today instead.
Warmed up on the treadmill, then did my weight work for around 20-25 minutes, then managed 5 minutes on the treadclimber.
After stretches I went in and weighed myself.

112.1kgs!!
Wooooo hooooo to me!
I've somehow managed to get rid of 1.2kg this week.
I'm sure it's due to my eating less or even eating more regularly with the Lite'n'Easy stuff - you know, now my body has to start eating itself a bit more.
I'm also sure it will not be this easy the whole way down to the 80kg I want to weight by the end of 2009, but it is definitely a nice feeling to have gotten off the 115-116kg mark where I've been for the last 18 months.

First official weight in...

I procrastinated about this morning.
I don't know why.
I mean, I really wanted to go to the gym.
But I got up late, I faffed about with breakfast and getting into gym gear, so it was nearly 11am before I walked through the gym doors.

I decided to go with a weight training session today. 5 minute warm up on the treadmill and then into the weights area. 2x15 reps on the leg press and the shoulder press plus 1x15 reps on the shoulder pull-down thingy and 1x15 on the compound rowing machine. I figured I should do weights today so tomorrow is just a treadmill type of day and then Wednesday is my first PT morning and that might involve some weights work and you're supposed to have a day "off" between weight work.

The best news though was that at the end of the session I went and weighed myself. I thought I was still around the 115-117kg mark (it's where I've been 'sitting' for the last 18 months or so) but according to the scales I'm currently sitting at around 113.3kg!!!

There were some big smiles on my face!