A Massive Challenge Awaits...

Ok, it's time to get rid of these kilos! I was out walking the dogs tonight when it occurred to me that I don't remember the last time I felt this good about myself - I just have this positive vibe about everything in my life and i'm sure a lot of it comes from my exercise and the energy it's giving me and I LOVE the feeling!

So i've decided to capitalise on the Christmas shutdown and make a MASSIVE commitment to myself and my weight loss efforts! I've increased my treadmill workouts to 50 minutes - it's tough but when I start to have thoughts of giving up I remind myself of The Biggest Loser and how they have to dig deep to find that inner strength to keep going when it would be easier to give up. So that led me to persuading Michael to download as much of the US series as he can find. And just as the mere thought of the massive efforts of those contestants has kept me motivated on the treadmill for 3 days in a row for 50 minutes on a speed of 5 and incline of 6 so will watching these episodes set me up for my next challenge.

I finish work on the 18th December and I have 26 days off! I am making a committment to myself that in that 26 days I will take only one day off of exercise (that being Christmas day), the other 25 days I will exercise for 2 hours a day! It sounds a lot but when you consider that just today I walked the dogs for 40 minutes and did 50 minutes on the treadmill this morning I worked out for 1 1/2 hours today and worked as well - so it shouldn't be too hard!

Those 2 hours each day will be made up of a combination of wii workouts, taking the dogs for a walk, using the treadmill and going to the gym. I'm even thinking I might do some aqua aerobics classes over the summer months too as I loved it when I went before! I have decided that I would like to set myself a goal of being double digits for my 1 year anniversary on Weight Watchers and while it might be a tough ask (need to lose 19.3kgs in 6 1/2 months) I need a big thing to aim for to keep me motivated.

I've even been searching ebay for charms tonight and have a couple on my watch list that I intend to bid on over the weekend. (For anyone that doesn't know I wear a bracelet with 14 links on it - I bought it a while ago and I intend to add a charm for every 5kgs lost - the final charm will be added when I get to my goal weight). So far i've lost 10.1kgs so need 2 charms and I want some of them to be symbolic - the first is a tortoise - to represent the time it will take to get me to goal, "slow and steady wins the race" and the second is a pair of baby booties - one for each of my babies who i'm doing this for as much as I am doing it for myself - I REFUSE to let them grow up with the weight issues i've carried around all my life!

So operation HOLIDAY EXERCISE CHALLENGE is on - I know it will be a challenge but the kids are still in day care and time is on my side (a rare thing) and if i'm going to achieve one thing these holidays it's to shed as many kilos as humanly possible!

Back To Work Tomorrow...

After 2 relaxing days off I have to get up and go back to the office tomorrow - how unfair is that? Today was my normal day off and yesterday I called in sick with stomach cramps so just had a relaxing day at home, spending a fair bit of it resting in bed.

You heard this here first - I actually think i'm starting to become addicted to exercise! I am about to go to bed disappointed with the fact that i've ONLY earnt 5 bonus points today (4 points on the treadmill and 1 on the pedometer for incidental steps) - never thought I would see the day that would happen but it's a fabulous feeling! I've tracked my food for the next few days (subject to changes of course) and have my exercise planned too, including a 6am start on the treadmill tomorrow.

I can see that 115kgs on the scales by the end of the year already!

On A High!

I had a MASSIVE victory on the treadmill today and proved once again how much our mindset can control this journey! I've been doing so well with my exercise lately and have enjoyed my half hour workout on the treadmill in the morning. I always work up quite a sweat as I use the treadmill on a minimum incline of 6 but today I decided that instead of being happy to earn 2.5 bonus points I would earn 3 - using eTools I worked out I would get 3 points for 35 minutes so having made up my mind to push myself that extra 5 minutes I got on the treadmill!

I put a tape in the video player and off I went, so imagine my surprise when I got near the 30 minute mark and suddenly I was thinking I might just be able to go past 35 minutes! I let myself believe it was possible to go past that 30 minutes and then I started thinking anything was possible. As my show was coming to an end I just kept going trying not to torment myself with the timer on the treadmill - the show finished, I looked down to see 48:22 on the clock so pushed myself through to the 50 minute mark for a huge 4.5 bonus points! Not to mention the points I clocked up on my pedometer by dragging my husband, the kids and dogs out for a walk tonight as well.

That was such a huge victory for me because now i'm determined that 50 minutes is what i'll be aiming for every day - that's a big increase and something i'm very proud of.

Now for my weigh in result - I had hoped that I would get under 120kgs, I was 120.7kgs so needed to lose 800 grams to achieve it. Then next week I was hoping that I would reach my 10kgs lost mark (I started at 129.3kgs). I was reluctant to admit that TOM was due for fear of sounding like I was making excuses and justifying it if things didn't go my way so I didn't mention it! As it happens I came home and TOM arrived only an hour or two after the meeting.

And I lost a MASSIVE 1.5kgs and achieved BOTH my goals - weighing in at 119.2kgs i'm not only under 120kgs for the first time in 2 years that I can remember but i've also lost a total of 10.1kgs! And my goal of ending the year at 115kgs is definitely within my reach - I need to lose 4.2kgs in 5 weeks! You can bet i'll be giving it everything i've got to try and achieve it! I also think it's feasible to be aiming to be double digits by my birthday next year (and my first year anniversary with WW). It's amazing what the right mindset can do - I gained 300 grams over a 6 week period - decided I needed to shake things up 2 weeks ago and have since lost 2.9kgs in 2 weeks - suffice to say i'm very proud of what i'm achieving and spurred on to keep it going.

Faking It Until I'm Making It!

I've always loved that saying - but don't think I have ever really lived it ... until now! I've had another one of "THOSE" days, started on the treadmill at 4.30am for 30 minutes then started working at 6.15am, had my pedometer on and did everything I could to increase my incidental exercise (including going to the shops at lunch time and parking at the opposite end of where I needed to go). I set myself a goal of earning 3 bonus points (not including the treadmill - that was an additional 2.5) and i'm enjoying pushing myself! Suffice to say my dogs were very tired by the time we got back from our walk tonight and I was pretty pleased to have clocked up another 5.5 bonus points for the day!

The one thing I did do to let myself down today was convince myself that I would be ok with Michael and the kids eating hot chips for dinner while I ate fish fingers and salad - I wasn't! And I gave in and had some! I'm a little annoyed at myself for that but it's a valuable lesson, don't bring things like that into the house unless I can point for them. I'm not too fussed, it's still 24 hours to go before weigh in and so far i've earnt 19 bonus points for the week and with the chips included i've used 9 of those points - i'm ok with that.

As I said to Michael tonight I haven't yet gotten to the stage where I enjoy the exercise but I do enjoy the feeling it gives me having achieved it and that's enough to motivate me! I've already established my exercise goals for next year - I know that sounds silly but when you work the hours I do so far from home, have a big house to look after and two young kids you have to plan things carefully if you want any time for yourself - whether it be to do what I want or exercise!

Once Lachie starts kindy in April I will be working 2 short days a week (his kindy days) and only working 9.30 - 2.30pm on Tuesdays & Thursdays - they're perfect days to go to the gym because I spend more time with the kids anyway, I will go on Thursday nights once Mikayla goes to bed at 7.30pm (much as I do now) and then straight after WW on Tuesday nights. I'll also go on Sunday mornings - then on top of that Michael and I are going to do the wii workouts on Wednesday and Saturday nights - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I work full days and have an hour for lunch and will walk during my break and then of course I will try to get up early on the treadmill at least 3 days a week! So it all fits (even when daylight savings ends) without having too much impact on my family.

Feeling really good about this - i'm starting to finally believe that success can be mine, I just don't think i've ever wanted it enough before now!

Why Do Weekends Fly So Quickly?

If I could only find out I might be able to do something to slow it down! Oh well, wishful thinking I guess! I've had a fabulous weekend overall, lots of quality time with my husband and kids and some down time for me!

I even persuaded myself that I really did need to take the dogs for a walk today because I haven't exercised as much as I usually do in recent days - of course the dogs agreed willingly to start with, until they realised that I had the "BIG" block in mind! An hour later we all made it home puffing and panting and I clocked up 4 bonus points on my pedometer! Must have been quite a sight too as they struggled with the walk, so much so that they both got carried part of the way. I imagine how it would have looked with me dragging one dog while holding the other - just as well i've got maltese shih-tzu's and not german shepherds ... lol

Back to work tomorrow and another early start on the treadmill! I'm REALLY hoping that I get under 120kgs at weigh in on Tuesday night (I need to lose 800 grams to achieve it). If it happens i'll be so excited, if not i'll make sure it happens the following Tuesday.

Loving Life!

I'm sitting at home relaxing in the study just enjoying some downtime! Michael's playing WOW on his computer behind me and i'm about to curl up in bed with a coffee to watch TV! The house is quiet, eerily so, I love having date nights while the kids sleep at my parents house but I miss them SO MUCH!

I'm all for the balance needed in our marrige and in our family - and it works for us, we both get time alone with both kids, each of the kids on our own, together as a family, just the two of us on bi-monthly date nights etc etc.

Today we went to an afternoon session of the movie 2012 and LOVED it - though having said that it was a little predictable! I took 20 rice crackers with me, all counted out in a freezer bag for 2 points and bought a diet coke - victory number! After the movie ended (we went to the 4.45pm session and didn't get out of the cinema until just after 7.30 - it was a long movie) we went to a local pub for dinner - I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the bake at home roll with a little package of REAL butter (that was my treat) and it went down well with the prawn stir fry I ordered! And I think possibly for the first time ever I DIDN'T go near the salad bar!

We often eat at this pub and I know they do a beautiful potato bake with lots of cream and bacon and I didn't want to put myself in a position where I might have caved into temptation - I simply saw the size of the stir fry, new I wouldn't get through it all anyway so opted not to visit the salad bar at all - victory number 2!

On top of my decision to go to McCafe last night and just have 2 skim coffees (no cake) i'm feeling exceptionally good about my choices lately and it's just another sign of me making a lifestyle change rather than being on a diet - I LOVE this feeling!

OMG ... I Missed A Day!

Amazing how blogging really has become such a daily habit for me that I don't even know where i'm at with my 21 day plan - have to admit i'm enjoying updating more often but just wish I could read other blogs as often! Never mind the weekend is here and there'll be plenty of time to catch up.

I went out with a friend for a coffee tonight - we headed to McCafe and I thought i'd ask if they had any scones - they didn't, so guess what I ordered instead? A skinny hazelnut latte, followed by a skinny cappuccino - that's it! To say that I was pretty damn proud of myself was an understatement and as I said to my friend, i've really made the connection with the lifestyle change now. I wasn't hungry so why eat? As Sharon said at the dinner recently, if hunger's not the question then food's not the answer!

I haven't been on the treadmill for a couple of days now and i'm actually starting to miss it! I'll be getting back into a more regular routine over the weekend.

The kids are having a sleep over at my parents house tomorrow night and Michael and I are going to the cinema to see 2012 followed by dinner! Looking forward to the movie and going to a favourite restaurant of ours where I know there's an abundance of good choices on the menu - can't wait! Oh and only 4 weeks to go and i'm on holidays!

Have a great weekend everyone, I certainly intend to!