Weign in - R2 - Week 5

Week 5 - CRAZY how quickly this round is going. Next week will be the half way point, and whilst my weight loss this round hasn't been massive, it's not as though I'm really trying to ditch the poundage.

Current Weight: 71.2kg
Last week:      71.5kg
Week's loss:     -0.3kg
So far:         -25.8kg

 (edited to correct my ordinary maths!)

I will though, admit to being a little disappointed in my 300g this week.  Yeah, I know that any loss is a good loss, blah blah blah.  But I tried REALLY hard this week.  At least I trained hard.  Perhaps a few extras slipped between my teeth.

It's all perspective really.  Would I be happy with a 300g loss if I wasn't pushing to get to the magic 70kg by Saturday?  Hells yeah!  But with a goal on the horizon - a goal that I probably won't reach - I'm a little disappointed.

In the big scheme of things, does it matter to anyone else if I'm not 70kg by Saturday?  Nooooooo.  My original goal by my birthday was 75kg.  Happily that was ticked off ages ago.  So anything below that is, in reality, a bonus.

So I'm going to take the pressure off myself, and just celebrate the fact that these lifestyle changes I've made are here to stay.  That's probably the best birthday present I could give myself.  Hmmm.

Row row row your boat

I seem to do this a lot on here, but it's CONFESSION TIME.  I have NEVER used the rowing machines in the gym.  NEVER.  Made up all kinds of excuses as to why I can't; sore back, too hard, not fit enough, but the truth is, I was intimidated by the bloody things.

Last night after work I made an unprepared dash to gym with the intention of completing Michelle's week 5, Monday, lean & fit program.  Normally I'd at least check it out before I go and semi-memorise the program.  not this week.  So I get there and I check out the prescribed warm up on my iphone (HOW we ever lived without one I just don't know) and get started.  And we're walking at 6kph for 5 minutes.  Cool.

At about the four minute mark I scroll down to the next segment.  It's a 5 minute steady state jog at 9kph.  Cool.

Again, I get to the four minute mark and sus out the next stage.  Gulp!  It's something new.  Rolling intervals on the treadie.  A progressive running drill divided into two parts.  Part one is a pace increase at an incline of 1%, starting at 9kph and increasing by 1kph every minute and dropping back to a resting speed of 6kph in the 6th minute.

Part two is a static pace with an increase to the incline every minute.

We're at 10kph (which is manageable) and a 1% incline.  Cool.

Minute 2 is 3% incline, and every minute increases by 2% until you get to 9%.  3%; cool.  5%; okay not quite so cool.  7%; blimey I'm going to pass out and there's NO WAY I can do 9%.  So I take a 1 minute break back to 6kph, same incline, and then I'm ready to tackle this.  AND...with lungs completely busting, I get it done!

So by this point I'm pretty much spent.  And then I check what's next...ROWING MACHINE.

Double gulp.  I don't know how to operate this thing.  I'll look like a dick.  I'll fall off.  It's peak hour at the gym, blah, blah, blah.

So I just go and do it.  I flip back the damper thingy on the side to 5 (I figure this is the done thing) and press reset on the screen.  Strap my feet in.  THEN realise that you have to put the handle on the little holder thingy so you can actually reach it.  Out come the feet.  Position the handle.  Feet clipped back in.  MASSIVE deep breath and we're off.....

The challenge here is to row hard for 1km, have a 2 minute rest, then go again for another kilometre, trying to beat your first km time.  First km = 5:28.  And it's hard.  REALLY hard.  Legs aching, lungs burning, hands raw, but I'm doing it.  And no-one is standing there laughing at me.  That 2 minute rest felt fantastic!!! The second km started out feeling great.  I had a bit of technique happening and was in a zone.  Nearing the 900m point I'd full on had E.Nough. But I sucked it up, did a quick calculation of my current pace and realised that I was on target to beat my first km time.  And I did. 5:11.  Happy with that.

You'd think that would be the end of the workout right about there, but NOOOoooooooooooooo.

Internal sprints on the treadie, which goes a bit like this;

30 seconds on and 30 seconds off, recovering on the sideboards.  1 x 12kph, 2 x 14kph, 2 x 16kph.

Now, I've never cracked the 16kph mark.  Too hard, I'll fall off, I'm not fit enough, blah blah (sound familiar).  The first set of 16kph, I wimped out at 15kph.  But you know what, I decided to give it a go, AND GOT THROUGH IT.  It may not sound like much to those that have been running for years, but for me this is a MASSIVE achievement and I'm really really proud of myself.

Rowing machine - you're not so scary.  Maybe even a second date coming up soon??

70 by 7/7

Lurve the number seven.  Especially because I was born on the 7th day of the 7th month.  Anyway - a fellow 12wbt'er, who has her birthday a week later (same year - too freaky) on 14/7, (a top, ace chick that I love to death) set me a challenge to reach 70 by July 7.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

This morning I weighed in (I know it's naughty but it's pretty much my only vice) at 70.8kg.  800 grams in 8 days?  Yeah - I can do that!!

Although you don't read this blog - thank you Judy Street - top, ace chick you are xx

Weigh in - R2 - Week 4

Flawless week nutritionally, buuuuuuuut a few excuses were made around the exercise side of things.

Still - a 500g loss at this stage of the trip is, well, pretty trippy, mostly coz this is new weight I'm losing :)

Current Weight: 72.0kg
Last week:      71.5kg
Week's loss:          -0.5kg 
So far:          -25.5kg




And as I edge closer to that magic 70kg mark, I'm starting to believe that I really will get there.  And when it does happen, I promise that I'll only re-set my goal one. more .time.

The circus is in town...

...well you could be forgiven for thinking so IF YOU'D SEEN MY WORK PANTS.

So today at lunch, I snuck on down to the shopping centre (which is nice and close to my new workplace) and tried to find my favo Diana Ferrari grey pants in a smaller size.

None.

But I did try on a couple of other items while I was there, and walked out with a top, a knit dress and a cute little skirt...

in...

wait for it....


SIZE 10.

Here's proof

Serious part coming up;

I can remember very clearly my first few days of High School.  There was no uniform.  I was a bit lot of a dork and I had no "cool" clothes, so I wore my Mum's size 12's.  I wasn't what you'd call FAT, but I was solid.  So now, 31 years later, I find myself fitting into a smaller size than when I started secondary school. Nothing is going to bring me down from my good mood today!

But wait...there's more...

I attempted to pay forward some kindness tonight by accompanying a new member to her first boxing class.  Didn't quite work out that way (long story), but I DID get to sample BODY COMBAT.  What a blast!  Hard, but I loved it!  So did Big Red (my HRM) - a 441 calorie burn - backed up by another 100 cals on the exercise bike when I got home - plus June Mean Abs - AND my favourite Salmon Stirfry for dinner.

What a great day!

Ex non-exerciser

I'm working my way (backwards) through this rounds blogger challenge questions to catch up...

Week 2 was all things exercise, and here are Jaynes prompts;


When and where do you workout?   I wouldn't say I really have a "routine". My job is pretty dynamic in terms of hours and workload, so I try to keep things flexible rather than bogging myself down with more commitments. Some days I will steal a long lunch break and go for a shuffle.  Most days I will  do 10 or so km's on the exercise bike after dinner. All of this month I have done "Mean Abs June" either when dinner is cooking or after my ride.  On strength days I'll bash out the Lean and Fit program after dinner too.  Thursday is my weekend substitute coz I work Saturday nights and all of Sunday, so I'll go to gym for either a class or a sesh on the machines. Saturday morning I will do something special - like this morning i went to a group run coaching session.  So as you can see, I mix it up ALL the time.


Are you doing anything different this round? Yeah, I so am.  I'm giving the Lean & Fit program a run at the moment.  There's loads of running, and I've always said that I can't run.  Hmmm.  Seems I actually CAN. And unlike last round I'm sticking quite closely to the actual program rather than doing my own thing. 


Is there anything that you'd like to do but not yet done? I've been thinking of doing something that takes some upper body strength, like a ropes course or even trapeze. Swimming lessons to get some technique down with a view to the pink triathlon in February. And I've noticed the "sunset series" of runs later in the year.  Same course once a month for three months.  Would be great to gauge my improvement over that time.

Are you still holding back? As much as I'd like to say no to this question, it's a big fat YES. Always, in the back of mind, is the thought of injury and this, without a doubt, holds me back. Part of me thinks I should cut myself some slack - it HAS only been 7 months since my back surgery.  And part of me thinks to hell with it - if I'm going to re-injure myself it will happen regardless. I could do more. I could also do less. But mostly, the balance is about right for a 43 year old with pre-existing injuries.  


I'm using that word a lot in this post; "injury".  It doesn't define me, or limit me really. What it does do is make me appreciate how it feels now to move without pain.  Scared or brave - it's a fine line.

Motivation Station

I'm a bit late jumping on board this rounds "blogger challenge" hosted by the VERY inspirational Jayne - always late but worth(?) the wait.  Actually, I've been pretty crap at blogging since about week 10 of round 1 which, not coincidently, is around my gorgeous man asked me to be his wife. 


 *wagon*  *me jumping on*

This week's prompts;
What motivates you?  Initially, it was all about recovery from back surgery.  Now, 7 months later I've got a completely different focus.  I have a VERY beautiful but expensive ivory dress hanging in my spare room.  I can't post a pic of it here, just in case my future husband checks in here (unlikely). Its freaking stunning.  Its a freaking size 12, which in wedding dress terms is more like a 10.  And I'm freaking not.  It's so so close to fitting.  Maybe 2cm more across my back would make it zip all the way up, and a couple more from my hips would make sitting down a more pleasant experience.  My first wedding, at the age of 17, was crap.  Lasted for 20 years, but this time around it's so much more special.  I want to take his breath away when he first sees me.  That's what drives me.  And I want to look back at my wedding pictures are be proud of the woman I see.  Superficial - m'eh.

What drives you to a better version of yourself?  I don't think I was a particularly great person.  Yep, I was fat, but I was pretty grumpy, and negative, and low on confidence, and took things personally.  I'm a work in progress, but am already noticing changes in the way I view certain situations. And in turn, noticing the different way people then interact with me. People do treat me differently now that I'm "thin", but I treat me differently too.  What came first?  The latter me thinks.

What is making you just get up early with no excuses and just getting out there getting your workout done and eating healthy meals?  Confession.  I DON'T train in the mornings.  I MAY at some stage, but right now, I don't.  No excuses, I just don't.  But I DO workout every day, and I DO cook with fresh,clean ingredients every night.  It's all just a routine now.  There's no question of will I do this today.  I just do.  I hope that means that I've had the breakthrough and this is now my permanent lifestyle.

What makes you push that little bit harder?  I had my first "fun run" experience a few weeks ago, and it won't be my last.  My current push is to get my 5km time under 30 mins.  Funny really, coz I couldn't even run 5km a month ago.  But once I cracked that mental barrier of can't, then it just became easier.  There's always a personal time to beat, or getting to a certain distance, or hitting a certain calorie burn. It's the internal competition that pushed me on.  I'm not competing with anyone other than myself.  Strange, considering I grew up playing competitive team sports.  But I'm finding self-competition so much more rewarding. Although the lack of team-mates to celebrate with is taking some getting used to. High-fiving myself mostly happens internally - don't want to look like too much of a dick now, do I??

Great questions / prompts Jayne :)