How are we tracking?

It's early days, but so far so good.

I was going to make the stars gold, but thats probably going a bit far.

Date	portion	caffeine	snackage	sleep	water	run	invest
7/7
8/7
9/7
10/7
11/7
12/7
13/7

Portion:
It hasn't been difficult at all to cut my dark chocolate down by half.  The two squares still give the taste without the guilt. This one is completely under control.

Caffeine:
This HAS been difficult.  REALLY difficult.

I've noticed two very different effects.
My morning, 10am coffee always came with food of some sort.  Without the coffee, I'm not looking for the nibble.
The 3 - 3.30pm coffee is being missed.  Without that pick-me-up, my eyes are heavy and concentration is low.  And today (Wednesday) I've been STARVING.  But this could be a case of...

Snackage:
I subbed in an orange for my muffin.  It's probably only 20% of the calories, and coming off a simple mug of pumpkin soup for lunch, my belly was growling - audibly.  Although I feel good to be reigning these crappy habits in, the tiredness and lack of energy is a challenge.


Just to add to the self-imposed structure/pressure, to coincide with the diet cleanse, I've also kicked off on a half marathon training program from 'Womens Running Australia' magazine.

Monday:  Rest Day
Tuesday: Treadmill intervals (2 mins @ 11.2kph, 1 min rest x 5 repeats)
Wednesday: Pilates - which I LoVeD - it's a post in itself.

Tomorrow is 2 mins @ 10km race pace, 1 min recovery jog x 10 repeats, which will be coming straight on the back of a strength PT session.  I really want this.

Out with the old...

Round 3 is done... gawn... over!

Here's how I went;

Not really much movement in the weight loss stakes, except for week 12 really;

And measurement wise I don't have much to report.  But my fitness tests were a bit :)

The strange thing is that my body has visibly changed in these 12 weeks, but it doesn't show on any of these indicators.  Plus I'm fitter, stronger, healthier (like A LOT)  than I was back in September.  So much so that I've decided to tackle my fears front on with an attempt at Lean and Strong - here on in referred to a L&S.

Round 4 kicked off today, and it was a goodie!  I followed the exercise program to the letter and really enjoyed the different sensation of being muscle fatigued rather than just buggered.  Got the weekly shop done after my working weekend away.  And went for a 9km walk in the late afternoon just to stretch out my legs and soak in some sun.

Nutritionally it was a great day too.  It started with the usual bran, fruit, yoghurt and LSA.  I've ditched the banana now too, and find I stay fuller for longer without it.  Morning tea was a home made protein snack.  Lunch was a berry protein smoothie post workout.  Afternoon tea, some celery with almond butter and a hand full of soaked almonds.  Dinner - well it's Monday, and that always means Salmon Stir Fry.  Yummest.  Meal.  Ever.  And to finish the day off I had some pineapple and pear with yoghurt and cinnamon.  I didn't count my calories, but my guess would be that it came in around the 1350 mark.  Oh, and water... easily 2L today, but it's not something I normally struggle with.

It's all easy when you're having a "work from home" day.  Tomorrow could be a little more challenging to fit the workout in.  But I'm organised.  My fridge has snack size steamed chicken and broccolini packed up and ready to go.  The weeks meals are all planned, purchased and hassle free.  I've just gotta get my ass into that gym.

I've also been thinking a bit about goals and the need to come up with some...  but thats a job for tomorrow!

Still sugar-free too, just in case you were wondering!

Weigh in - R2 - Week 12

That's it!  Round 2 is over.  And it feels weird.

Somewhere in the midst of this round (a round is a 12 week long body transformation program) it stopped being a program that had a beginning and an end, and just became the way we live now.

Round 3, which I've  also signed up for, rolls straight into this one, rather than the four weeks delay while the "pre-season" tasks are revealed.  This is just fine and dandy with me, coz they're now ingrained habits, but there is one pre-season task that I MUST re-visit and that's goal setting.  But me thinks that's an entire post of it's own!

Anyhoo...



Current Weight: 67.4kg
Last week:      67.1kg
Week's loss:   +0.3kg   
So far:        -29.6kg


As you can see I got incredibly close to my 67kg target.  In fact, at one stage in the week I was smack on the mark, but as usually happens, Wednesday is not known for being my skinniest day of the week, and I've had a slight increase.

Has my round been a success?  I certainly think so, but I'll let you judge for yourself...

I didn't just lose another 5.2kg after I was already in the healthy weight range.  I also lost centimetres in places I didn't expect, and gained a heck of a lot of fitness. At 44, I'm definitely in the best shape AND health of my adult life...

...and am without doubt the HAPPIEST I have EVER been :)

Week 12 weigh in (my week 26)

Current Weight: 72.2kg
Last week:      74.2kg
Week's loss:          -2.0kg 
So far:          -24.8kg    

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted.  3 to be exact.  Caught up somewhere between a floaty love cloud of engaged happiness, wedding planning mode, a relentless work schedule and life in general, I've not had the time to pop in here and bang out a post.

This truly is a milestone week.  Not only does it mark the end of our 12 weeks, but it's also 6 months since my back surgery.  The event that kicked this new lifestyle off in the first place.  I'm so proud of myself and what I've achieved in that time and the program itself.

Here's a look at how my 12 weeks panned out;

I'm a smaller, faster, stronger and definitely better version of myself.  This program has changed my life in so many ways. I've regained my confidence in the kitchen. My mood and general attitude to life is at polar opposites to where it was 12weeks ago. And I have "met" whether that be in cyber space or in real life, some of the most amazing, generous, clever, motivated and generally awesome women that have made this journey all the richer.

I've signed up again for round 2.  Why, I hear you ask?  Well although I've bettered my original goal weight, I just want to make sure that my new lifestyle becomes my permanent lifestyle. And I now get to go shopping for a very expensive white dress - in a size 12.  SIZE 12!  Dreams do come true - if you want them badly enough.

My new, new bestie

Today, I proclaim my everlasting love to www.myfitnesspal.com

As an iphone ap, this little beauty tracks my daily calorie spend and burn, scans product barcodes to enter food quick as a wink, and allows you to enter your weight daily (I know it's naughty but it keeps me honest, motivated, blah blah)

But the BEST thing about this website is when you log in on your PC to access the reporting function;

When I've been tracking  for a full month, the weight chart will (hopefully) appear more impressive than it currently does!  But to me, this is a brilliant way to lay it all bare and see where you are meeting your goals and also where you're cheating yourself.  How many 1200+ days in the month, Raelene??  Hmmm??????