Happy Happy Festive Season

Hey there.

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and here's to a wonderful 2012.
My plans are to indulge over the the next week or 2, but within reason, and still maintain some form of exercise. Kickboxing is only twice a week over the next couple of weeks. I tried to do my own form of KB at home today and I did manage to burn 400 calories. But it was much harder without the structure of someone telling me exactly what to do. Not that I want to put on weight, but I would be happy to not exceed a kilo. Then come the new Year I will be keen to try to get to 60 kg. Somehow I have still been losing weight (small amounts).  So Lets see. I really need to start tracking again. So easy to just let things slip by those lips.

Stats for the last 14 months are in -
(as at the 6th December)
Total loss - 30.7 kg (this is 31 now) which is 33.1% total body loss. Fark a third of me.

For the 12 week body transformation I lost 7.4kg (10.6%).

Overall I feel amazing, and look pretty good I guess. Still demons in my head that don't quite see the real me. and can't quite take all the compliments easily. I sometimes feel guilty and like a fraud, cause I know the flabby bits under the clothes, and I know I can still pop down the shops for a packet of Twisties or polish off more Chardonnay than I need!! But overall I know I am making healthy choices and my activity levels are 110% on what they were.

I should add that I went to Sydney for the finale party with my darling BFF and what an amazing weekend. You really feel like a part of something amazing. There were 1200 people at the workout which was a rocking super aerobics workout. In total the 12wbt family have lost 40,000 kg. Yes you read that right! That was in 12 weeks. Annie and I cemented our friendship with tattoos, hehe. And I can't post a pic because all the options are not showing above. So I will try that next time.

Stay safe and have fun!
Love Kaz

Then and Now

Here is the transformation in pictures....

It should work if you click on the empty space .

Collage personalized with Smilebox

It finally happened...

Finally I am a healthy BMI. Yippppeeeee

Although I know I 'look' healthy and BMI is not completely accurate because it does not account for body mass (muscle etc), it was still a measure that is solid and a measure I could reach for. So in Wednesday when I jumped on the scales I was pleasantly surprised to see a figure I had been aspiring for. When I joined WW last October I stated my goal weight to be 70 kg. I never dreamed I would even reach that, let alone surpass it.

 I have a very busy weekend, with a school Pirate Car Rally tomorrow, which will be lots of fun, and then our Tae Kwon Do presentation on Sunday. I have watched 2 of these with Harry participating. BUT this year Emmy and I are also in it...EEEk I am quietly very anxious, but will also be very proud to stand up there as a nearly yellow belt (1 class away). Maybe I need to squeeze in a class Saturday and grade after it?

Ok have a wonderful weekend.

Excuses excuses

I still make plenty of them....
BUT alas I try to JFDI!!

No one is perfect, and GOD I am the last to say I am, gee I ate a whole packet of Cheese and Bacon balls last night, but it is funny when trying to change ones own thought process, these days when people talk about their own efforts in weight loss, I just sit and nod and smile, because all you hear is excuses. And how amazing it is that we BELIEVE these as truths!!

I love this, someone posted it on the FB page of 12wbt....

Cheers xx

Happy Birthday to Me

Well I am now well and truly in to my 40's. Yep I was 42 on Saturday. And what a lovely day I had. I went into the city with 9 of my most favourite people. 7 wonderful friends, my sister and mummy! I was so appreciative that they would want to spend so much money to eat yummy foodwith ME! The weather was absolutely miserable. BUT it didn't matter I was so happy. I felt confident, beautiful and loved :)

After a beautifully decadent lunch at The Windsor, for High Tea I went out to our favourite mexican with my family for more delicious food. Here is my wonderful sister Kim and I before we had eaten all those delicious pastries and cakes.

Funnily enough that weekend of over indulgence didn't hamper my weight loss of 1 kg this week. That takes me to under 65 kg. Yipeeee. I am also less concerned about BMI now (which is 25.6, so close to healthy), because as it states on the Government better health website, it cannot differentiate between body fat and muscle mass. Still getting regular comments that I am fading away, which is not entirely true, but hey who am I to argue?

Ok best get back to what I was meant to be doing...

GDay

Hey there...
Week 6 of 12wbt this week.
I have lost a total of 3.2 kg (4.6 %), and improved my fitness test on all aspects.
I have booked flights to Sydney for the finale party. I was very brave and went with Tiger, eek..
Dawning on me more and more that you pretty much have to say no to food more often than not. Because there is always an outing, or an arvo tea, or a muffin in the shop or a packet of chips at work etc! So unless you are going to train like a bastard, you have to say NO!!

Feeling good about things though..Loving comments still. One of the creche carers told me  I Iook HOT, LOL. And my brother was a bit shocked I think, he said I looked almost anorexic. Which is far from true, sheesh still chasing that healthy BMI.  Whilst I appreciate and love the comments, I still at times don't feel worthy. But I am trying to, because I do notice things sometimes that make me accept that I am MUCH smaller. Like when I do sit ups I love how my legs look!

Family all good. Hubby did Around the Bay in a day bike ride yesterday, crazy man, I will never be able to keep up with his fitness.  Harry has started tutoring today to help him with his reading. He is very keen for this, which is great. Emmy is her usual sweet, little Miss. The kids and I are loving TaeKwonDo. It is much harder than I ever imagined!

Ok I am sleepy, did a night duty Saturday night, (where there was an abundance of delicious Tuna dip!!)
so off to bed I should go. After I tidy up and get shit ready for tomorrow, which will end up being another hour I suppose....YAWN

Can't be bothered...

....giving you a super funny or smart or detailed update.  Or doing the latest blog challenge (soon!).
Sorry but I am just icing my very sore heel after finishing a late shift at the hospital. I have done Kickboxing 5 days in a row and topped off with being on it for 8 hours straight it is killing me. Can barely walk on it :(

I am being pretty good with my diet, sticking to 1200 most days. I have had some wine here and there and handful of chips here and there too. Whilst I recognise the value and benefit of eating "clean", 100% clean is not for me. I enjoy the naughty things in life, I just realise I CAN'T have them several times a week. In saying that I am super conscious of what I am eating and making many great choices and saying NO a LOT...(there was white mud cake at work, and there is fried rice in the fridge. I could go either of them, but NO! I did have a small glass of wine. Lets just say it is a night cap.

I have lost 3 kilos since I first weighed myself for this challenge, which I can't remember when that was, but I think it was the week before kickoff? So at the end of September last year I weighed 92.9 kilos (which I round up to 93 cause it's easier). I am now 66.6.. Yipee. I am so close to a healthy BMI that I can smell it. It is so close but also seems so far away. 63.2 kilos will  put me in a healthy BMI and also the top of my healthy weight range. God my lowest range is 51 kg. I would have to eat sweet FA!!!
Anyway i am more than happy with how I am going, how I look and feel.

Night xx

Week 1 Bloggers challenge

Thought I would mix things up a bit and do a BLOG challenge from - http://courage2start.blogspot.com/

1. Describe yourself in 25 words or less. You can get straight to the point - or bring your creativity into play. 
Fun, loving, fun loving, go, go, go; confident, genuine

2. What brings you to 12wbt? Getting fitter? Losing weight? (Gaining weight??) Are you first timer, a repeat offender?? 
I had lost 20 kg doing Weight Watchers, and was slowly continuing on the weight loss and health journey. Michelle Bridges was stalking me from the sidelines of Facebook and on a big billboard on Nepean Highway and my friend Annie had great success. I thought the 12wbt might help fine tune things!


3. Why do you blog?? 
I originally started my blog to share bits and pieces, family, day to day and crafty for my friends and family to keep up to date. Then Facebook took hold and my blog was seriously neglected. Now I came back to revive it, using the 12wbt to put some energy back into my blog.

4. Who is your biggest inspiration in life and why (doesn't have to be weight loss)
Gee this is a hard one....Various aspect of certain people inspire me, but there is not 1 single person that singlehandedly influence me! 

5. What things in life bring you the most joy?
My family..Makes the world go around. 

6.What do you think your greatest challenge is going to be this round?
Working out 6 days a week!

7. What are you most excited about 12wbt? 

Learning more about food, and fine tuning my body and mind



8. And what scares the pants off you?
Failure....

9. Tell me - right now - today - how do you feel about exercise in no more than 10 words
Disappointed I can't get out and do more (hello heel spur)!

10. Complete this sentence - in 12 weeks time - on the last day of 12wbt I am going to be feeling Indestructible!!


Okay gotta go get ready for kickboxing :)

So far, so good

well here i am and it is Day 6 of the 12wbt....

I have stuck to the 1200 cals each day, including a glass of wine last night. I nearly had a second, but I actually processed it in my head, no I actually didn't feel like it, I am quite full, I will feel crap tomorrow if I have another etc. So alas I didn't have it. That is a downfall, I often drink for the sake of it being the weekend. I better have a glass of wine, it is Saturday..how ridiculous!

The food has been mostly nice. I have pretty much done my own thing for breakfast (toast or cereal)  and lunch (taking inspiration from the 12wbt recipes)..dinners I have done exactly to the recipe. A lot of the stuff has lots of health fresh herbs, which my kids are not into. So I have tried to alter them to suit. Which is a little bit of a pain because I hate making separate meals. It has just meant I need to think and plan ahead a bit, so not too much of a drama!

I have also exercised every day so far, yea go me! I need to try to get something happening today. Today is typically SSS (super Saturday). which means burning 1000 calories. I am afraid I will not be doing this in a hurry. Call me lazy, but I want this to be sustainable and I am not going to bust my balls spending 2 hours working out. I am at home with both kids, and trying to do 1000 cals to a DVD is not gunna happen. I want to turn the volume down on Mish by the end of 1 DVD, LOL! No offence Michelle Bridges!  My heel is still sore, but I think on the mend (I have a heel spur and plantar fasciitis if I haven't mentioned it, and to be honest it is quiet debilitating :(. I just picked up my orthotics on Thursday and currently wearing them in. I am still losing weight doing what I am doing, so I am more about doing exercise than being obsessed with the amount of calories!

I did my fitness test, killing my foot and I am pretty sure having an asthma attack in the process (I had asthma as a teenager) but I was being stubborn and wanted a number for the 1 km time trial. As it turned out I was intermediate in 3 categories and advanced in 2. The wall sit is a bloody killer, pity it isn't a plank instead...I can do 2 min and 5 seconds. I also did a shit load of (lady) push ups, which my kickboxing trainer tells me are a waste of time. So I attempted man push ups, and crikey I am hopeless, I struggled and managed 4. So I am just going to try them now!

Ok I need to go clean up this feral house. Get some washing out, which is a pain because the puppy is having a blast pulling it off (we have a 9 month old Border Collie).  I should mention a bit about my family, because everyone checks in  here for different reasons I guess. Hubby is a builder and currently working in the city (and hating it) he is also an ironman and training for a half ironman in Shepparton in November and Melbourne Ironman March next year. Harry is 7, in Grade 1 and enjoys TaeKwonDo...Emmy just turned 5 and also commenced TKD. But also loves Ballet, and is keen to do gymnastics. She will start prep next year..Yipee. I am a Paediatric nurse currently working at a local Community Health Service doing asthma education to families. I am also back doing some bank shifts at the hospital. I love TV, True Blood, Project Runway, X Factor, Housewives of NYC all the usual crap!
I enjoy reading, but never get much time to do it. And I recently found Sudoko a good challenge (only the easy ones though). I still love making cards for people and wish I had more time to scarpbook :(
Ok I must go, enjoy your weekend peeps

xx

12wbt kick off!

Ok so it is 10 pm and I am cooking tomorrow nights lasagne. We have the school concert at 6.30, and I finish work at 5.30 and have 2 kids to pick up at seperate locations.

So blogging is the last thing on my mind, but I though I better check in and say yee haa, the body transformation has started. Today was Day 2....and although I said I would only exercise 4 days a week, I decided that what the hell, I will whack in some both mornings. My concern has been that I would get just as disappointed in myself with calories and exercise as i did for eating too much. So if I don't exercise, or if I do and don't burn 500 calories. Now I have decided, that I am happy burning ANYTHING! I am still battling a sore foot, although I think it has improved. So this morning I burnt nearly 300 on the treadmill (which was a slower walk because my foot hurt when I turned up the pace or the incline) and yesterday I did most of the Michelle Bridges Tone DVD, also not a huge calorie expenditure because I didn't really have much room in the lounge and I poorly planned time with getting to work, so had to cut it short, also had to do the low impact as the jumps hurt,  :( I pick up my orthotic on thursday, so I hope that makes a real difference. 
I sat and planned out the menu Sunday and did a big shop. I sorted what days I would eat each meal, with work, and nights out, some meals fitted in better on different days. I have also stuck with Special K advantage  for breakfast  because A/. I need something I don't have to think about when going to work, and B/. I just don't see a shake as a meal, lol. Still healthy and still within the calories, so all good. I did take a picture of tonights dinner, so will share that at some point. 
Ok time for bed... soon anyway!

Pre Season

I remembered why I am so crap at blogging, and that is because I finally think to do it just when I am ready for bed.
So I thought I would give a quick summary of the Michelle Bridges 12wbt pre season tasks. The idea of these tasks is to have you all ready for the journey ahead, like a Girl Guide the motto was 'be prepared'.

1/. Introduce Yourself - this was about jumping on the forums and introducing yourself...so most of you should know me from this blog alone. I am 42 in October, a mother, wife and nurse. I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have lost over 20 kgs in the last 10 months. I love reading, scrapbooking and hanging with my family and friends. More recently I developed a love of kickboxing and Zumba.

2/. Get Real - this is identifying your excuses in life..
Internal :
will do it tomorrow
doing ok at losing weight, so don't need to be strict
ate that, blown it, so doesn't matter if I eat the rest
too tired
too sore

External (control over)
too busy
gym too expensive

External (no control over)
sick kids / me sick
husband home from work late
kids having meltdowns when I want to go out

with each of these came thinking up solutions. Mine consist of not waiting for tomorrow, ensuring KB or Zumba at least 4 times a week, and walking the dog..focusing on different areas of the body when sore. Doing treadmill at home, pre warning the kids. Don't loosen the reigns!

3/. Set Your Goals : setting goals is about having measurable, achievable and realistic aims over the program, but also beyond. So they are 1 month, 3 month, 6 month and 12 month. My goals are to about losing weight, toning up and I am achieving this by following 12wbt and being consistent. (In my actual list they are more specific).

4/.  Gear Up - this is about our exercise programs. This will involve 6 days a week of activity as follow
- 3 days of fitness, 2 days of toning, 1 day of light fitness, core and stretch (i.e yoga)


5/. Say it Out Load - simple as yelling it from the rooftops and making a commitment. Telling everyone you know you are doing the program, in order to be accountable and of course have support. My commitment was : I commit to this program to be the best person I can be whilst maintaining a realistic life....I will be healthier and fitter as I lose 10 kilos (I am actually less already, so not sure if I need to readjust that number, ah well we will see what happens) and tone my body.

6/. Kitchen Makeover _ yep that's right, throw all of the shit out of the house. There isn't too much for me because i have been mostly healthy for 10 months. Hubby won't give up chocolate, but lucky I am not too fussed by that.

7/. Organize and Diarise  - plan out your diary so you know when you are training, shopping days etc. Highlight outings that might be 'red flags' for eating. Such as dinners / weddings etc.

8/. Measure Up - eek the scary bit. Do measurements and take a pic in bra and jox! I wished I did this in October last year (oh the visual I have in my head, blah). Never mind. Onwards!

Much of these tasks are outlined in Mish's book Crunchtime. Which is a really great reference with its own 12 week program, along with the Crunchtime Cookbook.

These are all very confronting, and make the challenge very real. Looking forward mostly to learning about what calories mean, and about what actual healthy food is. Mind be fun to get into my head too.

Gosh I should go to bed...I am hoping for an early morning call into work.

Cheers

Fat chick in a slim body!

Well firstly I have to say I ALWAYS think of the best blog updates when I am driving or in bed about to go to sleep.! Alas, you will just have to put up with what comes to mind now as I am sitting in front of the computer. So here I am sitting on my slimmer butt on the couch after knocking off 600 calories at kickboxing. I am going to KB more now, because I currently can't go to Zumba....waaaaaaaaaaaaah! I have a bloody heel spur (and plantar fasciitis), and it friggin hurts like crazy :(    Luckily I love KB and can alter the exercise and still get a good work out.

So how about this losing weight. I guess the thing about losing weight is how you feel and look. And I have found that I am having trouble coming to terms with this. Mostly I look in the mirror and like what I see. But I have trouble when I reach for a size 12 top and accepting that when I actually try it on that YES it does actually fit, oh and looks ok :) Or some of my tops, that are size 16, up until last week I still had in my wardrobe, because it will still look ok. NO it does NOT! When I bought a gorgeous dress recently I doubted that it looked nice, and questioned myself whether I was in fact still a fat chick trying to squeeze into a slim dress. Alas it looked fucking amazing, lol.

The other thing that is hard is the constant compliments, nearly every day, several times a day in fact. Even now, from the same people. Now don't get me wrong, I love it, it is very motivating to maintain a healthier lifestyle. But the old me creeps in and wonders are they just saying it. So I am trying to suck it up and say thank you and let it spur me on.

This brings me to the next step in my life. I have decided to do the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation.  I contemplated her books I think before I started WW, but opted instead for the Tiffany Hall book (which admittedly didn't do much for me). I would see the ads for the 12wbt on the side of FB all the time, and in magazines. It sounded interesting. When my buddy joined I liked the page on FB, and this was great to see all of the buzz. Even though I know I am losing weight, and it still seems to be coming off,  I thought this would consolidate my knowledge and add a new perspective on food. I am also keen to shape my body more. A big thing will be the mind lessons. Working through why I overeat, and why I can't be bothered exercising. This program is very hard core...and I don't know that I will be super dedicated. I know I won't burn the ideal 500 calories 5 days a week, and 1000 1 day a week. I guess I am lucky because I really only want to lose 10 kilos, so I don't feel like I have to be mega hard core. I don't think I will ever rid nachos, wine and chips from my life, but at least I will be doing it much less, and even make better choices at times.  But I will exercise more than I am now, and my dietary intake will be less, and 'cleaner'. So this can only result in positive outcomes.

Ok we are currently at the end of 'pre-season' which involved 8 tasks in order to be ready for the coming slog! Hopefully I can get back in the next few days and update my 8 tasks before kick off on Monday.

Cheers peeps...and thanks for joining me :)

The Shrinking Story..

Morning.

Well I have been trying to get clever with some photos for my next blog post, and I have a Mac now, and I just cannot get Mac savvy. To be honest it is not my favourite device in the house! I love its battery life and the sleekness of it. But for photos I find it shithouse...Grrr. Alas I went back to the old desk top and Paint to whip up some pics. Why do I need pics you ask. Well I have to tell you about my little journey that  I started at the very beginning of October last year.

Yes thats right back in October 2010, I decided I needed to make some some serious changes in my life. I needed to lose weight. I had turned into a fat blimp! Over the years (about 5 I guess) i had ballooned to 93 kilos. FARK!!! I am only 159 cms. How could that little body possibly be that large. But it was. And it seemed to happen gradually, and I lived in denial. For awhile I told myself I wasn't that big, or I'd find clothes that I told myself looked ok, I didn't look that bad.. Who was I kidding? Myself actually! At some point I actually realised it was effecting me. I was getting short of breath when I went upstairs to our bedroom at home. It was uncomfortable doing up my shoes laces. I also had horrid indegestion most days and my cholesterol was on the upper limits of normal, I think it was high for one of the standards. For awhile I told myself I just needed to get "in the zone" to start losing weight. Well clearly the zone was no where in sight. And here I was looking like this!

Uuuugh, disgusting!! The left pic was from a scrap booking retreat in March 2010, and the one on the right is me at my 40th birthday party in October 2009 (where I thought I looked hot, I guess I looked okay for a boombah!)..LOL.

So here I was lumping around all of this weight, waiting for some miracle motivation and inspiration to bestow itself on me. Well girlfriends one morning I realised it ain't gunna happen, and I just had to do it. So I signed up for Weight Watchers at Southland, one of the Lifestyle centres. After a couple of weigh ins I ended up with Claudia, a different consultant. She was lovely, and very supportive. So I had begun the journey. I started Zumba and Kickboxing, and sort of tracking points. I was never 100% good at that. I probably did it written down for a couple of months, then in my head, then not at all. But the food choices were so far different from what I was doing that it didn't matter...I was still losing weight.  

I love Zumba and Kickboxing, and also getting out for a walk with our new Border Collie. So here I am 10 months later (not much different in the last month), and I happy to report I am 20 + kilos lighter. I haven't weighed in on the WW scales for ages, but they were close to my scales at home. I feel so much better, and people tell me I look so much better too. Although at times it is hard to accept that in my head, more on that later.

These pics are all in the last 2 weeks. I have definition in my shoulders, my legs are slender, I have little muscles in  my arms (I need to work on picture angles, because they are not always looking their best, hehe), my tractor tyre is more like a bike tyre now and I have only 1 chin now! I am still on a journey, and that is Part 2 of my story....

For anyone who has lost weight, you will know it is a bloody battle every day, some days easier than others, but I am here to show it can be done...take each day as it comes, chin up, onward we go!

Back soon to share my next stage of my journey, which is to fine tune my mind and body.

Cheers Kaz

Kaz is still here !

Well hello there..I am still here. LOL. Gee it has been nearly a year. Updating to facebook often and having a page for my cards I have neglected my blog. But I think I might start it up. Can't say I will be regular. Don't want to make promises. But I will try. I have lots to tell you.

So stay tuned.

Cheers Kaz