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!!

Fighting the Scales

On Friday we did a fitness test just to gain an idea of what levels we were at and to set goals for the forthcoming weeks. Christie and Bec were the other two being put through our paces by Bianca. We did as many sit ups and push ups in a minute as we could so that when we are tested again in 4 weeks, we can measure our improvement. I only managed 45 seconds of sit ups before I had to stop, so my immediate aim is to make sure I complete the minute next time!!

We also did a agility test and the 'beep test' where a CD is played with timed beeps and you have to run continuously between two markers 20 metres apart reaching the line of each marker on the beep and turning and running back again. The beeps get gradually faster so not only do you have to keep running, but be able to pick up the pace. Bec and I only made it to level 3.2 I think, so in another 4 weeks I hope to be able to reach 5 or 6. Christie did really well and got to level 7.

When I came home and told my son we did the beep test, he laughed at my 3.2 as he made it up to 11 when he did it at school. Nothing like a bit of moral support eh?

We also worked on our 'core' and did a lot of muscle work to strengthen (or in my case, just find!) the muscles across our abdomen, which are rather weak after having kids.

The weekend was good. On Friday night me, my husband and kids walked down to the fish and chip shop and bought our tea. I had grilled fish and a garden salad and we took our takeaway and a bottle of wine down to a patch of grass over looking the coast. We live in Mapleton so the view down to Maroochydore is spectacular at night with all the lights on. At 6.30 precisely, sitting on our picnic rug and sipping a glass, we watched a huge orange moon come up out of the ocean and it was beautiful.

Saturday I made chocolate brownies with my daughter. She licked the bowl, wooden spoon and cleared up the crumbs in the baking tin and I didn't want to eat anything. On Sunday we went to Caloundra and went rock pooling. I found a handful of cowries and after lunch (chicken salad!) at a lovely café we explored a little more then headed home having caught some sun and chilled a bit! I even fed brownie crumbs to some ants and delighted in watching them struggle to carry huge bits back to their nests rather than eating it myself.

Monday was back to class and this time it was only me who turned up. Sasha, Bianca's sister put me through my hour of training, ending up with her helping me to stretch my calves and thigh muscles and realising they are not very supple. So I am to work on them this week, doing stretches for example, while watching tv or in the mornings. Although I have felt a lot more energised most of the times, but still have fat and blobby depressed moments. After training on Monday, even though I had a really good session, I felt bloated and saw myself in a mirror and was surprised by my shape. My 6 year old daughter then told me I looked like I was going to have a baby. Thanks a bunch. I am also disheartened when I stand on the scales. After three weeks of working hard and eating healthily, cutting out carbs and upping the protein, I thought I would have lost more weight.

So this morning I found on a website, this encouraging text

"The number one reason most people exercise is to lose weight. People think that exercise will automatically make them lose pounds on the scale as well as inches on the measuring tape. However, as fat cells get smaller from all the calories being burned in exercise, muscle cells respond by getting stronger and heavier. That's how a flabby body turns into a firm one. If you don't realize that this change in body composition is taking place, it can be very discouraging to see the scale hardly budge or even climb a few pounds. There are people who are so obsessed with the scales because this is the only way they know how to evaluate their weight loss progress that losing inches or even a clothes size or two is not enough to convince them that they are successful. This is too bad because no one walks around with a sign on their forehead announcing to the entire world what they weigh. If you are one of these people, please try and change this attitude because you will only get depressed over nothing. In fact, you should celebrate your new body composition!"

So after reading that, I will try to get out of the habit of standing on the scales each morning, then again after I have done a wee, and again after a poo and embrace the fact that I am doing something to change my body shape and fitness levels and it isn't solely about what the scales say. I was 82 kgs when I started and I will weigh myself at the end. Perhaps I should put my scales away until then......

I am being measured tomorrow too so these measurements should be different to my first day after 4 weeks. This I am sure will give me the encouragement and results which I am looking for. I will post my results when I know! Wish me luck!!

Food Rules v Food Rules

I have lost weight, which is fantastic. The first few of many kilos. After 2 sessions this week, I am aware that I am also improving on my fitness levels. Two weeks ago I could have never run as I did today nor done the push ups on Monday. At home, this means I can easily run up the stairs and run up the garden steps to the car, which I couldn't have done a few weeks ago without losing my breath. Yesterday I had a dynamic day doing the washing and ironing and I was speed pegging and speed ironing, sucking my tummy in as I did!

Yesterday after school I went for a walk with Julie and the kids. She had a back operation not long ago and walks twice a week, so finally we managed it together and walked a new route for her round Mapleton. She walks fast which is good for me, but her little boy was exhausted! At least all the kids slept well last night.

On Monday I was on my own with Bianca and she worked me very hard. 1 on 1 is more intensive but I gave it my best and was even able to chat while we did some of the exercises. Again, this is a vast improvement on two weeks ago, when I couldn't have spoken a word whilst doing anything. Phil took todays session and there were three of us. We ran, crab walked, did press ups, lunges, step ups, ran again, ran again backwards up a hill and pumped up down and round about with our powerade bottles filled with sand. My arms ached and my legs wobbled, but bizzarely, it felt good!

One thing I noticed at the weekend, is that I stopped craving bread and I am not missing it at all. On the eating plan, it is one of the things you replace with rye bread or wraps. With three kids and packed lunches to organise, scoffing on toast and eating sandwiches was just part of my daily routine.

So now my day consists of eating along these lines and I am actually enjoying it.

Breakfast: Oatabix, a bowl of Allbran or poached eggs or rye bread + somethimes a protein shake
Snack: tuna with rice cakes or home made hummous with veges and a mandarin from our tree
Lunch: is a mixed bean salad, a wrap, or rice and cooked chicken with salad
Snack: cold meats or a protien shake and some nuts
Evening: Salmon stir fry, savoury mince in lettuce wraps, fish wrapped in foil with herbs, veges and lemon.

When I have tried other diets before, I have still always craved something whether it be alcohol, biscuits, cheese, chips. I am surprised I have felt none of this. It must be the combination of exercising and the determination to do well, but in this early stage of the challenge, food no longer seems to be ruling me. In fact a couple of times, I have forgotten to eat and realised it was mid afternoon and I hadn't had lunch.

It is hard making such a change to your lifestyle, and I believe I am being reasonable with myself not expecting to be able to do everything form the day I start. You can't go from being a lard arse, sitting about all day and overeating to suddenly exercising everyday until you collapse, changing your diet so drastically. It takes time to learn everything and introduce new things to your daily life. So I am setting myself mini challenges and last week was to drink more water. I managed it about 50% of the time, so I need to continue with that this week. This week I am also challenging myself to make sure I exercise on the days I don't go to a session.

So more water + exercise everyday + keep eating healthily are what I have to keep at the forefront of my mind.

My aim is to be a size 12 again and I know will be there in time for the summer!!

Playing With Pegs Gives You Better Legs!

On Friday I had my 14 year old and my 11 year old off sick so they kept each other company and I was able to make the 9-10am session. There were three of us and we played games and laughed a lot. After warming up, Bianca gave us 4 pegs and told us to clip them onto the back of our t-shirts. She then explained that we had to run about and grab the pegs off your opponants back whilst trying to protect our own. Boy it was funny. We did it a few times and it brought back more memories of playing centre in netball (when I was 12!) as you had to be quick on your feet and defend as well as attack. So who would have thought that pegs were good for your legs!!

We played chasey too. Bianca gave us an advantage by hopping and trying to catch us as we ran, but boy can she hop fast! Our hearts were pumping and we did press ups on the bar, pulls ups on the goal posts and jumping squats until we were out off puff! We then focussed on muscles just in from the hip bone, which tend to go after having kids and no normal form of our daily life and exercise ever uses them. As I was lying on my towel, trying to contract these muscles I was looking up at the huge blue sky and I thought "This is the way to exercise".

Water intake has been better too. It seems easier to drink on days when I exercise. So I should make sure I exercise everyday!!

I am having a fat day today. I feel fat and my tummy feels bloated. I had 5 girlfriends round last night for a meal and enjoyed a thai curry and a several glasses of wine. I struggled this morning as normally after a night like that (we were doing singstar on the playstation until 2.30am!) I would have heaps of toast to make me feel better, but I resisted! Back on track with the meal plan and I have even fought the desire to go and polish off the chocolates one of the girls brought and had some tuna and salad instead.

Hopefully after topping myself up with water and a good nights sleep, I will feel better tomorrow and I will make the effort to exercise so I don't feel so sluggish.

Camera's are Rolling

Monday mornings session was great. Hard work and I got a stich for the first time but still rewarding and I pushed myself hard this session. After warming up we did a circuit which included running, lifting weights (powerade bottles filled with sand!), going over some small hurdles, skipping with a rope, crab walks (oh so attractive for those of us with a big butt!) and lifting a weight ball. We did the circuit once, then had a break then went for it twice. We then did it in reverse, started in the middle and went left and right so a simple exercise course was made interesting with just a few changes. We were encouraged and pushed to perform our best and that's probaby why I got the stitch! Bianca had a video on a tripod, just to get some footage of what the sessions are about. I hope she isn't going to use it to count all my lifts or skips, just incase I got it wrong!!

After the session I came home and showered and then made my way down to Starshots at the Sunshine Plaza in Maroochydoore for my 'BEFORE' photos. I took some gym gear and some underwear and was quite nervous about having these shots done. I changed and the girl said I could put on my gym gear and put the robe over the top. I just told myself to go for it so when she came to get me, I was bravely in my knickers and a bra with a little crop top over it.

I just thought "This is me. This is who I am and why I want to change." I have covered up my body for ages, unhappy with how it looks. I told myself that it wasn't humiliating but was a very brave thing to do. I had three shots taken, one in front, one to the side, but I looked to the side and I don't know if that was OK and one from the back. One of them will probably be used in Profile Magazine. I hope my 14 year old isn't embarrassed when the time comes. I will talk to him as I don't want him being teased at school as his mum is a magazine in her knickers. Sort of thing you don't think about. If he thinks it will be a problem, I know Bianca took one of me as slightly more covered up, which may not be so embarrassing for him! Hopefully he will be proud of the After shot!

Today is Wednesday and I missed my session today as I had a sick daughter. I didn't think it was fair to leave her not force her in a car to come with me on the 1hr 20 round trip to the sports field and then sit in the car while I ran about.

H2O update.... I managed to drink a lot more on Monday, Tuesday I struggled, today has been better. It is just a matter of getting into the habit of carrying round a bottle all the time or having glasses of water regularly if you are at home.

Hopefully my daughter will be well enough to go to school on Friday and I can work hard at the session to make up for my loss today.

Fingers crossed!

Starting Week 2

Friday's session was great. I was the only one there at 9am, so Bianca and I started with some ball skills. It took me back to being about 13 and playing netball. I had to throw the ball into the bucket from various different points and if I missed, run and get the ball and run back to the poin and try again.

We then did squats, bouncing and throwing, lunges up to the line, whilst holding a ball, then run to the next line and back again and lunges back to the start. I felt very unco-ordinated. It seemed an amazingly simple thing to do, but I was concentrating so hard on doing the right steps and holding the ball out to the either side that I felt very wobbly.

At about 9.30 a nice lady with a baby in a buggy came along to join in. Bianca was great as she incorporated the buggy and baby with some of the exercises! As I was doing another set of lunges up the field, the baby was being power walked around and Bianca even suggested holding her whilst doing squats, but she was happy to sit in her buggy chewing something and watch!

So now is the start of week 2. I have enjoyed eating healthily but have struggled to drink 2-litres of water a day as I just forget. My mini goal this week will be to concentrate on increasing my intake of water.

I am having my 'Before' pictures taken today down at Starshots at Maroochydore. This will be the photo in Profile Magazine once I have completed my 12 weeks. I am really nervous about the photos and what I will wear to reveal my lumps and bumps. Don't think I am confident enough to stand in my bra and knickers as some of the previous winners have done.

Wish me luck!

Is Shopping Exercise?!

What today showed me was that you must be prepared if you are going out for the day, otherwise you may find yourself stuck for the right thing to eat at the right time.

I had my breakfast, took the kids to school and then went to do a number of errands before the weekend. I am one of a team organising a huge birthday party for a friend on Saturday night so I needed to get a few things down in Nambour. After the costume hire shop and party shop to get forks, I found a few items in the op shops and then realised it was snack time. I had brought some mixed nuts with me so got my tub out of my handbag and nibbled on those as I walked through the Plaza and then went and picked up an apple and some water at Woolworths.

I found myself having a spontaneous manicure just before 12 and explained to the staff about Bianca's programme. I was looking at my sheet again working out where to go for lunch. Kathy from Nambour Beauty, kindly offered to go to the new cafe a few doors down in Queen Street to get a salad for me. The cafe is a new organic grain-and-wheat-free cafe and Kathy took my sheet with menu ideas from Bianca and came back saying that when I was finished, there would be a chicken salad waiting for me. Hows that for service! It was devine, fresh zuccini, warm chicken, organic tomatoes, spinach and lettuce. It was yum and I helped myself to the complimetary water. The lady who did my nails also suggested getting a wrap from Subway as they will fill it with whatever you want so you can pass on the cheese, creamy dressings and ask for healthier choices. I will keep that in mind for next time.

I had cold meat after school for my snack and then a chicken and stir fry veg for tea and I actually feel extremely full, having not eaten as much as I would do normally. It might be all the water though.

So todays exercise involved charging round the shops and running up and down the stairs a few times. Not as vigourous as a session with Bianca, but probably the equivalent of a decent walk, which begs the question "Is shopping exercise?!!"

Weights and Measures

2nd training session. I was and wasn't looking forward to it but when I got there and I was still breathing (though a little heavier) after the hours session, I felt great.

I wasn't looking forward to doing it as I had a sore toe yesterday and it was hard to do my exercise dvd that I have as it hurt everytime I put pressure on it. I still did it though but took it lightly with the stomping and stretches where you put pressure on it. I think it is just got irritated between the nail and skin and perhaps some dirt or the nail pressing into it from Mondays session. Not sure, but I know it will get better and then I can hopefully jog a bit faster.

Bianca had a couple of helpers today who were both lovely. With only 4 of us in the group and three Personal Trainers assisting you it was great support. They helped with technique and shouted good moral boosting words and encouragement just when you needed it. I am still on level 1, running the shorter distances or walking up a hill rather then running, whereas the others there are fitter so some of their exercises are harder. I wonder how long it will take me to get to level 2!

Today we did a combination of stretches, running, boxing, squats and lunges with weights and exercises to tone our arms and shoulders.

After the session, I was given my one-to-one where Bianca helped me set my goals for the 12 weeks, one of which is being able to touch my toes, which I hope to be able to do comfortably in 6 weeks.

I was measured, had my photo taken, which was quite shocking from behind. I apologise now to my husband as he must see this view quite regularly as I waddle through to the bathroom. I never knew I had 2 folds in my back. New goal to myself... THEY MUST GO!!!

Eating plan is healthy, 3 meals a day plus morning and afternoon tea, protein only in the afternoon and evenings plus water (plenty of it). A 'meal off' (not day off) each week, so that means I can still go out every Thursday night with my husband, but I will make healthy choices and not drink any wine as I have to train in the morning.

I also got chatting to one of the mums at school, Julie who recently had a back operation and has to do a lot of walking. We have decided on Tuesdays and Fridays to go for a walk after school and this way the kids can come too and we can have a chat. I never thought exercise could be so social!!

My son does boxing on a Thursday down in Nambour at the PCYC and I go and pick him up every Thursday about 6.30. So I called them this afternoon and found out that if I go down early, my two girls can join in gymnastics and I can go to the gym or join a fitness class. Surely that is killing 4 birds with one stone! However if I end up with a grumpy 6 & 11 year who don't like gymnastics, then I may have to find something else on another night for us.

Food today has been weetabix, a hand full of nuts for snack, tuna with spinach salad for lunch with rye bread, some slices of turkey for tea and dory with stir fry veg for tea - Yum! ... and the best bit... I'm not hungry!

Off to tidy kitchen before husband gets home and I have to cook all over again!

Aches & Pains 1

Boy did I feel stiff and sore this morning! I used muscles yesterday I didn't know I had. I carefully did everything I needed to do upstairs before coming down as I didn't know if I could make it back up stairs again!!

The girls were up and dressed in good time this morning, must have been helped by yesterdays earlier start, which we do again tomorrow.

I must do some stretches, go for a brisk walk and drink lots of water today. I have just letting my soup settle from lunch and have a good hour in which to do some exercise before I need to be at the school.

I enjoyed 3 weetabix, milk no sugar, for breakfast and tomato soup and 1 piece of wholemeal toast for lunch. Think it's fish for tea with stir fry veg.

I am having my one to one consultation to weigh & measure after tomorrow's session and from there will set goals and start a good eating regime. Can't wait for the guidance.

Off to put on my sports gear and get that heart pumping!

1st Training Session

As I was getting ready this morning I wondered what I needed to wear. I knew included in the deal is a 'one to one' session to weigh and measure me, talk about goals, get a food diary and have some photos taken. I assumed this would be my first meeting with the trainers, before I took the plunge and actually started exercising. So although jeans were calling, I thought I would wear my sports gear just incase I had to bend and it would hopefully get me into 'focus' whilst I was chatting about the new body I was going to have in October.

I arrived at the sports ground dead on 9am and was so glad I had my exercise gear on as I met Bianca and Sasha and 3 other ladies and we started a training session. So I was thrown into it with quite a bang and was relieved I hadn't worn my jeans!

I realised after a warm up, training with a netball and then running round some trees that I am incredibly unfit. However it not going to deter me. The session was really good and Bianca and Sasha were very supportive. They obviously know just how far to push people dependent on their fitness levels and what they want to achieve.

After today, my goals are to be able to run up the hill, instead of walking (but I am really happy Bianca, just so you know, walking for the near future!!) and being able to touch my toes with ease and do the stretches without a roll of fat in the way and my knee bent!

I ate a healthy lunch of sushi rolls and had tea of a small bit of chicken and steamed vegetables. I will do some stretches tomorrow and go for a walk or do my exercise video so I don't seize up before Wednesdays session, but I have a feeling Wednesday will hurt!

Well you know what they say.... No pain - No gain!!

Competition Winner

OMG! I entered a competition in the Sunshine Coast Lifestyle magazine called Profile. It was to win a 12 week challenge where you work with a personal trainer to win a new body. The progamme was being offered Exclusive Personal Training. http://www.exclusivept.com.au/. I had to write in 50 words or fewer why I needed a total body trasnformation.

I wrote:

My family moved from England in December. I’ve gained 20kg through stress eating. I put my kids and other people’s needs before my own. I want to learn to look after myself, rediscover confidence, start working, become a desirable wife, a yummy mummy and enjoy life on the Sunshine Coast.

I received a call on Friday to say I was down to the final three and I had a chat with Sam from Exclusive Personal Training. I had to say again why I wanted to win, what was important to me and what commitment I would give the programme.

The top picture on the right is me when I turned 40 and when I was about 20kgs lighter than now. The picture below is me in Noosa in June, which is actually quite flattering considering my weight gain.

I was so chuffed when I received a call back to say I was the lucky winner for July. My twelve week challenge is worth $1200 and starts tomorrow at 9am down at Glass House Mountains. My two girls (6 and 11) will walk to school and they have promised to help me by being ready and independent and allowing me to get organised on the days I am training.

I am a bit nervous. I know I am having a 'before' and 'after' pictures and I will be featured in the magazine when I have completed the challenge, but I am really commited to doing it. I have 20 kilos to lose and if I lost 1kg a week doing this, I will be well on the way to getting a new body for Christmas!

I have decided to write this blog as a record of what I am doing. I hope it will benefit me as I can write down my thoughts, my achivements and also write when I am struggling and it will help me to get through it.

We went out for a meal last night, not because I don't think I can go out for a meal again, but it was a nice thing to do. I shared a bottle of wine with my husband, some garlic bread with the kids and a lovely plate of homemade gnocci with sweet potato in cream sauce! I know I will still be able to enjoy a meal out, but next time it might be something lighter and hold the GB!!

The thing I am looking forward to doing is actually learning to enjoy and make time to exercise. At the moment, I struggle to put on socks, ache in the morning getting out of bed and have made little effort to be active since our arrival in Australia. So much for wanting to enjoy the outdoor life. My life over the last seven months has been hectic, moving house three times, trying to start up a business, having visitors for over a month and between all the unpacking, packing and organising, I tend to sit on my bum at the laptop. So many things are done on line now, meaning some days you can shop, bank, pay bills, chat to your friends (even in the UK) all with your butt on a chair whilst eating chocolate!! Not a healthy lifestyle at all. So why am I now writing a blog??!! Hopefully after today I can just write a quick note each day saying how I am doing and so friends, family and supporters can check to see how I am doing if they want.

Wish me luck!!