Cleaning mind, body & soul, rather than the house!

I trained Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. Karlie, who is featured in this month's Profile magazine joined me on Wednesday and Thursday. I have been training with her for about 4 weeks and just thought she was tall and slim. Having now seen what she looked like before, the difference is fantastic. What is great is that she is continuing to train and makes time to exercise every day. She is much better at running than me. I put it down to short legs (mine!!) but I hope to one day be able to run better and for much longer.

On Monday I was all on my own so benefitted from a one-to-one session with Bianca. She pushed me really hard and I must admit, I have struggled recently, both a little on the exercise bit, but the eating bit of the programme. My weight hasn't changed, in the last 4 weeks, which is really depressing. I am sure my body has, but I still have fat and horrible days where my size 16 sports pants still fit me snugly and then I have days where I could do one of those funny 'before & after' pictures where you hold out your 'before' whilst still wearing them.

It shows how funny our bodies can be, changing from one day to the next so dramatically. Combine that with our paranoid women minds and we find we can be beating ourselves up for something our body is doing all on it's own at certain times of the month whether we starve, drink water, exercise, or eat cake!!

So if I am totally 100% honest, I am tonight feeling low about my body. Some days I feel my body doesn't look like it should after 12 weeks of hard work, nor weigh what it should. I would have loved to have lost more weight, but then who doesn't want that miracle diet, where we are our ideal weight in 4 weeks! I know deep down, that I have done really well and that I have faced many hurdles along the way and overcome them. So here is what I tell myself

• I have gained muscle and am therefore stronger, both in body and mind
• I am sleeping better
• I have more energy
• I look better
• I have lost over a third of my over-all weight loss target
• I can run for 4 minutes
• I can touch my toes during stretches

So I have one final week of my 12 week programme to go and then my 'after' pictues will be published, just like Karly's. I only hope I can do justice to the programme and as I said before, stimulate people like me, with low esteem, who feel overweight and have tried every diet, who look after everyone else, before looking after themselves and help them realise that unless we (mums, workers, wives, homemakers, taxi's, business women) are fit, healthy and have the energy to cope with all the stuff thrown at us on a day to day basis, loads of the other stuff never works.

So my lesson is, look after yourself, get active, eat healthily, sleep well, don't worry about the small stuff, don't beat yourself up about the cleaning. Does it matter if the ironing isn't done or the dusting is left for a few days? Nothing bad is going to happen if I don't mop the floor or tidy the girls bedroom. Don't put off the walk or the jog because of housework. Start enjoying being you, enjoy the sunshine and get 'you' to be the happiest, heathiest and most energised you can as there are such great benefits and I am only just beginning to work out what they are.

Athough I am coming to the end of the initial challenge, I will still continue to exercise and lose weight to become the weight my 5 foot 1 frame is happy with, and then maintaining it for many years to come. Bianca's lessons, passion and drive will help me get there I am sure.

Please feel free to leave me a comment as I would love to know how many people this blog has affected. I really want to continue with a regular exercise programme with Bianca, Sasha and Seb for a couple more months. Take me up until December so I can get slimmer and fitter for the summer and treat myself to a bikini for Christmas! From there, I dream to be into a routine where I am incorporating exercise into my daily and weekly routine and it not feel at all strange or alien!

Right, I need to go to bed and get off sitting on my butt at this PC. I am up bright and early at the local gym for a 6am circuit work-out before coming home and sorting packed lunches, readers, hairbrushing etc.... you know the routine...

One week to go until D-day. Update you next week and look out for my before and after photo's posted on this site!

Early Morning Energy

Before I met Bianca, I looked on her website and read her blog and one thing that stuck out was the fact she was up incredibly early and off exercising before dawn. I thought she was mad. How could anyone survive on a few hours sleep and wake up with energy to burn. I have always suffered from "Just another 5 minutes" syndrome when the alarm goes off. Although I couldn't get to sleep last night until after midnight, as the room was a bit stuffy and I have a few things on my mind, I was still awake and reading at 5.20 and not feeling too tired. One of my aims at the start of this challenge was to capture this energy Bianca wrote about and I sleep better, get up earlier and have found this energy which is fantastic. Between 5.30 and 7am I can get lots done. I iron, read, write my blog (!), watch the sunrise, catch up on emails and best of all, get to see and speak to my husband while he has his breakfast before heading off to work in Brisbane just before six.


Last week was tough, Monday I struggled through the class. It was really hot and the dust from the recent storm was still hanging in the air. Both Karlie and I got quite puffed and breathless and at one point when I was running and imagining I was being chased by a tiger (the only way I can get round the circuit sometimes!), I actually thought " let the bugger eat me" I felt that knackered.


Wednesday, I missed the class as I was at the airport picking up my mother in law who is staying with us for a month. On Thursday I went to the session and met Karlie and Kirsty but Seb was nowhere to be seen. We did a warm up and some stretches and then waited a while longer. I called Bianca and left a message as we thought the session may have been changed back to Fridays. On the way home, Bianca called back and said Seb had been there waiting near the tennis courts, which were blocked by some trees from where we were waiting in the hut where we train on Mondays and Wednesdays. So I am back today and as I said last week, going back having missed two sessions in a row, is really hard. Though I did go to our local gym in Mapleton on Friday morning from 6-7am and did an hours circuit training which hurt, then stomped round Aussie Zoo for most of the day (but avoided being chased by the tigers!) before coming home and going out to work in a restaurant waitressing, so I suppose I must have exceeded the recommended 10,000 steps a day by a fair few!

Karlie, by the way, is featured in this month's 'Profile' magazine. I have only known her for 4 or 5 weeks, so to see the 'before' picture in the magazine was amazing. She was bridesmaid at a wedding this weekend and I bet she looked stunning. She had to change her dress from a size 12 to a 10. She must be very proud of the weight she has lost and how she has toned up. It will be me next and I hope I inspire people to sign up for Bianca's programme.

I have also found the last few weeks hard with having visitors, the kids off school and it being my birthday. I have still made better choices than before such as not having a cake and swapping chips for salad with my steak when I went out for my birthday meal, but have felt out of routine and have only been following the food plan about 60%.

I think this is the start of week 11, so I have the next two weeks to really pull my finger out, follow the plan, bring exercise back into my daily routine before the initial challenge comes to an end. My mother in law is supporting me and is happy to eat what I eat, so that makes it easier to prepare meals over the coming weeks and grab something healthy when we are out. We will also be active during the day, walking along beaches, doing the Glass House Mountains and visiting Kondalilla and Mapleton Falls, so fair bit of walking which should benefit both of us.

Don't know if she will be up as early though, but I like my time in the mornings, it's quiet. Any how it has reached 7am and the kids are up, that peace is broken, so off to tackle packed lunches, fill school bags, sort out uniform, do the school run and get to training on time!

Cleaning up in more ways than one!

I can't believe I haven't written for 3 weeks. We moved house and lost the internet for a few days and then I have been trying to be active rather than sit in front of the laptop and the time has just flown by. We now have visitors from the UK so I have popped my 'Tour Guide' hat back on and done Aussie Zoo, Mooloolaba spit, Hinterland Range etc only to have another visitor arrive next Wednesday and have to do it all again. We then have visitors virtually all the way through until after Christmas bar a few days to get the bedding changed and catch up with housework and friends. Then more again mid January, March and for Easter holidays in April.

Getting the house move done was physically exhausting but I saw the positives in it and worked.
lifting boxes - squatting and lifting
carrying - using my biceps
unpacking and putting away - doing squats as I unpacked and crouched down to put stuff in the kitchen cupboards.
Back at the old place n the Monday, I met with the cleaning company to do some cleaning myself and keep the cost down. Again I saw it as good exercise as I wiped windows, walls, mirrors, tiles, stretching up and down into the baths and deep into kitchen cupboards. Must have looked good as the cleaners asked me if I wanted a job! Was really pleased to get my full bond back but it did mean I missed the sessions with Bianca on Friday and Monday when we moved and cleaned. Boy did I feel it on the following Wednesday as it is hard to do a session when you have missed two.

When people miss a couple of sessions of any physical activity it can be a simple decision not to go back, but that is the worst thing to do. You should find the strength to go to a session again, get back into that routine, otherwise you may find you are on that slippery slope back down to inactivity and weight gain.

I had my measurements done last week and I lost a few cm's. Not nearly as many as the first time, but combined (as I lost heaps the first 4 weeks) I am on track. Although the cm's loss was smaller, I feel so much fitter, can run further and can do more in a day than I could do. I am also getting up in the mornings earlier and going to bed and sleeping well. All my sports pants are loose now. I had to hold a pair up a week ago as I was running as they were falling down! Quite difficult doing squat jumps too, especially as I was holding them up wearing boxing gloves!! I also have stopped weighing myself on a daily basis, but am pleased to have lost a stone and a half, (21lbs / around 9.5 kilos) which means I have achieved over a third of the way of my overall goal (to lose 25kg) by week 8. Roll on Christmas as I am going to be gorgeous!!

We have the Beep Test today, so this is a good measure of how my fitness levels have improved since last time. 4 weeks ago, I managed a 3.2 in the Beep Test, which was probably a bit low, but I didn't understand the instructions, so stopped when I made a mistake, when I should have kept going and only gone out after two mistakes in a row.

Wish me luck!!

It's not just about having a good Butt!

I have two weeks to catch up on as I am moving house tomorrow, so have been really busy packing. We have sorted all the kids rooms out and I have packed away all of our books and belongings, stuffed the ironing pile into a bag and of course left the kitchen until last (so that was today!).

I am really pleased I have been able to channel my energy into moving, without it getting down and resorting to hiding in the pantry and munching on tim tams. I now see bending down and packing boxes, squatting and lifting and carrying boxes downstairs, as exercisee! I have to miss tomorrows session with Bianca because of the move, but I am sure with loading and unloading trailers, I will work up a bit of a sweat!

Although I have been more focussed I can't say it has all been a bed of roses, as with any house move there are the endless calls to change utilities (and the expense that goes with it), but this will be our 4th house in 10 months and I just can't wait to be settled for a while. People keep saying to me that I must be a 'dab hand' at moving now, which I probably am, but it doesn't get easier, the strain of it all is still there but I feel more positive this time as we have a great group of friends helping which is just fantastic.

I do however feel so much better and I know it's purely down to the sessions with Bianca and Sascha. The eating plan I have followed has resulted in me having more energy and feeling so much better about myself. In the last week, I have had a training session on my own with Sascha, a training session with three of us another with 6 ladies and a session with me and another lady on Wednesday. No matter how many people are there, it is always positive and inspiring, fun, oh and of course exhausting!!

Now down to compliments. I owe a huge THANK YOU to Bianca. Not only for the training, but she complimented me about having lost my 'tummy'. Me being me, said I still had had a fat and wobbly day the day before, instead of saying Thank You and accepting the compliment.

Why is it that women generally can't take compliments? I have lived my life being unable to accept compliments but when someone pointed it out, I learnt to say thank you if someone commented on my hair, my clothes, or heaven forbid, my figure. I got good at it for a while and made a concious effort to give compliments as well. Obviously that training has completely slipped out of my mind and I realised after yesterday I need to change the way I think and act when receiving compliments.

So thank you again Bianca, for putting me on your 12 week programme. Thank you for supporting me and noticing that I have changed shape over the last 6 weeks. Thank you for telling me when I am doing well and taking the time to compliment me. And talking of compliments, I think Bianca has a fab butt, which lots of people comment on, but you shouldn't judge her just on her butt, her determination and drive is addictive. She is stunning, lovely, has wonderful family support and is extremely modest. She is driven by seeing people like me, turn from being a sad and overweight mum, struggling with no energy, into a slim, sexy, yummy mummy and gorgeous wife, who has regained confidence lost a long the way. So THANK YOU!

My challenge for this week is to give, and receive compliments. I will update you next week when I am back on line (good old bigpond and their 4 working days connection thing.... )

A new start awaits for a new me, in my new house.

Nuts About Food Diaries

Just a quick update on my end of week 5.

It's 20 to 7am and I am up and just about to start getting the kids ready for school and then go to my Monday Morning session at Glass House.

Last week Wednesday and Friday sessions were hard but fun. The team games on Friday especially. Being on the 12 week challenge, Bianca asks you to do a food diary and a daily summary, where you mark yourself out of 10 for how hard you exercised, if you stuck to healthy eating and how much water you had. I don't know why, but I completely forget to fill it out. I go for days and then remember, even when it is on the fridge. So this week my challenge is to make sure I do it.

The eating plan is now routine. I have changed my habits and my head must be in the right place as it doesn't interfere and send me messages and try to jeopardize my aim. I seem to be content with sitting down and having a bowl of cereal in the morning and then a protein shake, rather than three or four pieces of toast with butter on, eating while making packed lunches or dashing out the door.

I grab a handful of nuts mid morning and then enjoy a chicken or tuna wrap crammed with salad for lunch. Mid afternoon, some cold meat and then tea is chicken, fish or beef with plenty of veg. I had a icy pole the other day and some wine at the weekend but I managed to enjoy a healthy BBQ on Saturday by having a little steak and plenty of salad.


I know I have been sticking to a healthy plan, but going back to the weight obsession, I am still the same weight as I was last Monday. I have to tell myself that my body is changing, the weight will come off, but sometimes it's hard to get it into my stupid head. You want that steady weight loss. Used to being weighed once a week and getting a slow clap from other people in the circle. I am sure I am not alone. So maybe this week is the week where you are really good and nothing comes off, which can be a trigger for saying those classic words 'bugger it'.

Maybe I am having too many nuts, as they are easy to put in a container for when you are out and about. They are also moorish so I might be having too many and that is not good. I will cut down on my nut intake this week and see if this makes a difference.

It is tough and no matter what you tell yourself, when you work hard and those scales don't move, you are disappointed. What I am being positive about, is that I am moving house in 11 days and so for the rest of the week and next, I will be packing up the house, packing and moving boxes, stacking them downstairs in the garage and this means I am going to be more active than a normal week and hopefully next week, the scales may move just a smidge!

Off to do packed lunches and enjoy sitting eating my breakfast!

Endurance Training - It's Not Just About Running

For someone who has never run, I have watched myself learn to move faster than a walk over the last 4 weeks. I still don't consider that the action I do with my feet moving in a forward motion whilst huffing and puffing is actually running, but I know as I continue to practice each day, I will in fact be able to turn this funny jog thing into a proper run.

Yesterday we worked on our endurance. It was a hard session and we had a new lady Peta and a couple of ladies who have joined at level 2, which means they already have some sort of fitness level unlike me who started on level 1, coming from a very sedentary inactive life.

We ran, did some stretches, ran, did some lunges, ran, did more lunges, ran, did sit ups, ran, did squats, ran, ran again, ran some more, did core work, ran again and did I mention.... we ran! All this running, as I explained, is more like a steady jog for me, but at least I was able to keep going until the end. Something I never could have done four weeks ago.

Yesterday morning I weighed myself and was extremely surprised to have lost around 8 kgs. This was short lived as I realised this morning, the needle on my scales were not set to zero (possibly having been played with by a child!) so once I had adjusted it, I could measure properly. I have lost a stone or 6kgs, which is still fantastic coupled with my new measurements from Friday.

I have a very busy few weeks ahead of me. We are moving house in just over two weeks and I have yet to put anything in a box in preparation. We have visitors staying this weekend and the following weekend it is the schools fair and my husband and my anniversary. So there is very little time for packing either weekend really and I refuse to celebrate our anniversary by packing up our house again. We moved here from the UK in December and this will be our 4th rental house. So you can image how tired I am of moving.

I know my weight gain is stress related and all that moving house several times, has meant my mental state has been a catalyst for weight gain. With Bianca's help and training, I know I am going to be less tempted to disappear into the pantry to make myself feel and cope better.

Endurance is the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions. After enduring all that running, when weeks ago I couldn't have done it, proves to me that with a positive mental attitude I can cope with this next move and not gain weight, no matter what life throws at me.

Carrying a Spare Tyre!

Wednesday's session was hard. We warmed up by playing mini netball and then did a little circuit of weights & lunges. We did more agility courses such as crab walking to a marker, running to the next, weaving in and out of markers, running to the next marker and then side stepping again and running back home to do it all again.

Bianca and Sasha had to be somewhere after the class so I couldn't be measured, but Bianca said me plus two others would be measured today, Friday, after the workout.

Today I found really hard. There were 4 of us, Bec, Amanda, Christie and me. When I saw the tyres on the ground, I really didn't know what to expect. I went with Bec and we had to pick up the tyre between us and run to a corner of the three netball courts. We then had to do step touches up onto the tyre for 30 seconds, then pick up the tyre and run to the next corner and do press ups. Then, you got it... run to the next corner and I think we did the steps again, before the final corner and the press ups again. We then did some stretches and I thought "Thank god that's over" but it wasn't. Those tyres featured heavily (pardon the pun!) in today's session.

We lifted them, used them as hurdles, picked them up again and ran round the cricket field, stopping every now and then, not for a rest, but to do push ups again. We came to a hill and had to squat down and lift up the tyre and turn it over and gradually it worked it's way up the hill. We called on our partners to help us carry it back down, then it was their turn. While we were waiting we assumed the plank position then brought each leg up in succession tapping on the ground before going back and carrying on until our partner had made the top of the hill and we were needed to help carry the tyre down.

I was exhausted but we still had to run and carry the tyre all the way back to the starting point, where our drink bottles and shade were waiting for us to recover.

A minute or so later, we had another circuit of hurdles, lunges, weights and more hurdles until we were absolutely pooped and collapsed on our towels in the shade to do our stretches, sit ups and core muscle toning.

So who would have thought that using a spare tyre could get rid of your 'spare tyre'. I hope this is not a recurring theme here as next week we could be using Muffin Tops, Saddlebags and an overweight donkey... work that one out!

After the session, Bianca measured me again. I was measured 4 weeks ago and so this was the bit I knew would give me the boost I needed after being worried about my weight.

Four weeks ago, Bianca measured my bust, arm, waist, belly button, hips, then thighs and legs in 5 places, twice with legs together and 3 measurements on one leg. So a total of 10 measurements.

By working hard over the last four weeks and eating healthily, I have lost a total of 36.5cm over these 10 measurements including:

Bust 3cm
Arm 1.5cm
Waist 10cm
Hips 6 cm
Upper thighs 10cm (measured round both)
and I have gained a cm just above my knees, where I have gained muscle

I am going to celebrate tonight, not sure how. A glass or two of wine perhaps and my free choice meal of the week? Funny, but I think I would be happier not rewarding myself with food and drink. Perhaps I will go to the shops and treat myself to something else, like a dvd or a pair of earrings or window shop for smaller clothes. If I can achieve that in 4 weeks, I am looking forward to seeing what shape and size will I be after 12!!