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!

Today, Day Two

Ooohhh... I'm a bit sore today.  And tired.  Yep, tired and sore.

But... I still completed Day 2 of Lean & Fit.  Strength day.

First things first, I had to do a 5 minute warm up.  "Hmmmm", said I, looking out the window hopefully. "Might go for a jog".  So I'm rugged up (as you do in Melbourne, in winter) in my fluffy trackies, long sleeve top, raincoat and beanie that looks like a tea cozy. Step outside.  Have an argument with myself that goes along the lines of "Oh God it's REALLY cold"..."stop sooking you...sook"..."My ankle hurts"..."You're outside now, so suck it up and start moving"...blah blah blah for a good 5 minutes.  The dogs are looking out the front windows at me thinking what the?  Felt like a bit of a dick actually, standing there, rugged up, cemented to the front deck.  Raelene - what ARE you doing?

So I press the go button on my Nike+ app and just do it.

20 seconds in and I'm feeling like a bit of an athlete.  A brilliant plan hatches.  I could make this my 1km time trial.  Like I said, brilliant plan.  So I stride it out a little more.  And. Then. The. Rain. Comes. Bucketing. Down.  I'm full on soaked.  But do I stop?  Noooooooo.

1.18km later, I'm standing back to where it all began - on my front deck - but with a PB 1km time under my belt (not that I was wearing one!)

Well, I say to myself (yep another brilliant plan is coming up) seeing as I'm warm(ish) I may as well do Day 2 of L&F.  Mountain Climbers suck by the way!

But the fun doesn't stop there.  Why not do the rest of my fitness test parts too?

So here are my fitness test stats;

                            Round 1 - week 12            Round 2 - week 1
1km time trial          5:51                                    5:43
Pushups (toes)            21                                       34
Pushups (knees)         83                                      104
Sit and reach           +5cm                                   +5cm
Abs                         stage 5                                stage 5
Wall sit                   6:58                                     3:01*

*I will make an excuse on the wall sit - I was completely spent by this time.  I could re-do it tomorrow, but I won't.  The 3:01 stands. I barely could at the end of it :)

Onto today's facts and figures;

Calories in         1189
less training        557
less BMR            1455
deficit              823

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.

Finding some fitness

We're coming up to the end of 12wbt's week 4, and being the maths whiz that I am, I've worked out that's 1/3 of the way through - ALREADY!

So how's it going I hear you ask?  It's BIG this changing your life stuff.  Some days you feel like a fleet of fully loaded cement trucks wouldn't be able to knock you down.  And other days bring about the lowest of lows - total depletion of energy, emotion, and just getting out of bed is worthy of a ticker-tape parade.

This past week has been the biggest battle.  I completely lost my bounce, mojo, spirit, call it what you will.  I wasn't great company. I snapped a few times. And exercising was verging on pure torture.  I let work get on top of me and felt as though I was drowning on more than one occasion.  But you know what?  I survived it binge free. There were things within my reach that I could have eaten, but didn't. I've stuck to my nutrition plan and eaten around 1200 calories each day.  I also think my 300g loss this week would have been much greater if I wasn't carrying the self-imposed weight of the world on my shoulders.

Anyway - this wasn't where this post was intended to go...

FITNESS - yeah!

Every 4 weeks on the program we measure up and complete a fitness test.  And my results are pretty darn impressive imo.

Time to set some goals for the week 8 fitness test.

I'm happy with the 10 toe push ups, but I'm aiming for 30 knees as well.
If I can add even 1cm to the sit and reach I'll be happy coz my back is still recovering.
Time trial, I'll accept anything with a 5 as the first digit.  And to run the whole way again.
And that blasted wall sit.  I want to add another 30 seconds this time around.

Don't think I'm going to scare anyone out of their Olympic selection just yet, but the fitness side is such an unexpected bonus that definitely helps keep the motivation to change exactly where it needs to be.

Run baby run

As part of Michelle Bridges 12WBT program we complete a fitness test before we start and re-assess every 4 weeks as an additional measure of how far we've come and as an incentive to better your results.

I took my 5 part test yesterday in a group session with the local girls and just quietly, I'm so freaking proud of myself.

I ran, yes, RAN, 1km in 6:23.  It's soooooo not about the time for me.  Like, I'm happy with it, but really, who cares?  I RAN.  At the age of 43, 14 weeks after back surgery.  This would have been in the impossible category a few weeks ago.  Hell, even a few years ago if I'm being honest.

Some of the girls in our group did their tests the day before, yet still came down to support us - cheer us on - and whoop at our results.  Finding this group, and losing my FaceBook virginity has been the unexpected bonus of this program.

And it's only day 1.....