Monday, December 6, 2010

Its the FINAL COUNTDOWN...

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share a little story with you all. 12 weeks ago tomorrow I stepped on the scales & weighed in at 81.5kg.

Last Wednesday I weighed in at 71.3kg – so that’s 10.2kg in 11 weeks, 12.5% body weight. I will do my final weigh in tomorrow but I am hopefully for a sub 70 result – I want to welcome Ms 60’s to my house.
In addition to the weight loss on the scales, I have shed an AMAZING 56cms from my body, most of it from my waist & boob areas. My boobs are PERKY again!!

Over the past 12 weeks I have had my ups & downs, like we all have. I can honestly say that I have never ‘slipped off the wagon’ or left the program. I have learnt how to deal with my emotions without eating or drinking them away. I now lace my shoes & go for a run when I am frustrated.

I have completed 2 triathlons, and was registered for a 3rd but in accordance with Dr’s orders I couldn’t compete on Sunday. My fitness test has improved dramatically, from the first week when I couldn’t run the full 1km to yesterday when I completed it in 5mins 16 seconds. I am now a fit & healthy woman.


I honestly believe that without Mish’s program I wouldn’t have had the support & help that I have needed to keep going. I wanted to thank EVERYONE who has tweeted, left comments on my blog, and supported me over the past 12 weeks. I believe I have made friendships that will last for lifetimes, and I look forward to the challenge of Round 1 2011 and maintaining this fantastic lifestyle that I have developed.

So here are my final photos – before and afters out there for the world to see…..

See you all on Saturday
Xx
Sara

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Why of the Wahs 12WBT Journey... and where I am going....

I was married on the 23rd of January 2010. Most women say that they looked better on their wedding day than every before… I was the exception to this. On my wedding day I was bigger than ever, I actually put on weight leading up to the day, which meant that I had to wear “spanks” under my dress – not the sexy lingerie I or my husband were anticipating.

I was lucky, my dress was very forgiving, and the good old corseting made me look better than I deserved.

I was looking back over the honeymoon photos in August this year, (7 months after the wedding) I was disappointed in how I looked, even when I was dressed, I looked frumpy, and well….. fat. This was the first time that I started to think something needed to be changed.

I jumped on the scales that same day…… 85.5kg EEK! This was the biggest I had ever seen, no wonder that my size 14 jeans were VERY snug & I had nothing to wear!
I decided to do something about it….. I got up at 5.30am the next morning and ran on the treadmill, I was dreadful, I couldn’t run very far, and like most beginners went hard & fast for 30 seconds & then flopped in a heap! Hardly the fit healthy woman I honestly thought I was!

I started researching learn to run programs, and installed the C25K program on my phone, in my research I also found the Body Blitz Challenge and printed the information out for reading.  I decided to enter to give myself the extra motivation I needed to lose weight – I figured that if I had to send someone horrid fat photos of myself I might as well send them follow up photos in 12 weeks showing how far I had come!

My start date was the 20th of September; I weighed in at 82.5kg. My Husband took photos of me in my bathers, which looking back were way too small, and I can’t believe I actually wore them on the honeymoon.
I started to use Twitter & Facebook to keep up with friends & strangers who had a similar goal to me….through this I discovered Michelle Bridges 12 week body Transformation (12WBT)

This program has shown me how to live my life in a open, honest & fulfilling way. I am noticing improvements in my relationships with Hubby & also with colleagues, my resilience & ability to cope with adversity has increased, and I am generally more happy with myself.

On Michelle’s program she provides exercise, nutrition, shopping lists & probably most importantly for me – lessons to help you identify risks to your success. The last weeks focused on releasing your inner teenager, taking control of your own destiny & not giving in to temptation –regardless of what your self talk is saying.

Michelle provides the right level of support, and encouragement to keep me motivated & going. Today I received an email from Michelle, saying how proud she was of me & my achievements. Some people on the forums have complained about how they were ‘generic’ or ‘mail merged’ and so they felt ripped off because of that…. Personally I thought it had EXACTLY the right amount of pat on the back & kick in the butt that I needed.

I sent a quick reply back to Mish, thanking her for the encouragement, and stating how excited I was about the upcoming party…. A short time later I had another email from Mish saying that she was looking forward to the party too! These little letters of encouragement make my heart warm. I get excited every time I have contact with Mish (I remember the first time she re-tweeted my results I literally squealed in excitement!!)

I, using Michelle Bridges tips, information, and program am turning my life around…. I have had a REALLY bad day today, I learnt that I lost a really big potential client, through no fault of my own, and if I am honest about it I was about to skip the gym tonight & go home… but after re-reading my post above I have decided that I will  JFDI & head off to the gym …..

Mish I know that I am making these changes myself, and that you are not doing them for me, but I want to thank you for giving me the knowledge to empower myself to achieve in weight loss, body transformation, and most importantly LIFE.

sx
S

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Reflecting on Achievements

This blog has taken me a long time to write, I have had the words floating around in my head, and to be honest I wish I could just press print & they would flow easily.

I will keep it simple today though, I am working on a longer blog about why I started 12WBT in the first place but for now I am going to focus on what I have achieved over the past 8 weeks.

-          I have lost 8.1kgs which is 9.9% of my body weight, bringing me down to 73.4kg this morning.
-          My BMI has dropped from 27.6 to the current healthy 24.9.
-          My boobs have reduced in size by 10cms, my waist reduced by 17cms & my hips by 7cms.
-          I can now run 1km in 5mins 20seconds (a 1min 19sec improvement)
-          I can do 47 push ups in 1 minute (including 10 on my toes) this is up from 27 push ups in week one & none on toes.                       
-          I can now hold the dreaded wall sit for 3mins 19secs (improved from 2mins 6sec in week 1)
-          I have reduced my consumption of alcohol and now only have 1-2 glasses of wine one day per week (down from a bottle a night!)
-           I eat breakfast every day.
-          I execise 5-7 days per week.

There is no doubt about it I have done really well, I am feeling good, I now see a skinny girl looking back at me in the mirror. However now is not the time to slacken off or get complacent.

The next 3 weeks are where the challenge really begins – I have 5.4kg to reach my goal weight of 68kgs, and 21 days to get there!

I have arranged for a friend to take my final photos, but because I have to go away with work on the 4th of December they are going to be taken earlier than I would like, so on the 2nd of December I will be stripping down to my new blue bikini & hopefully showing the world the physical transformation I have made.

I mentioned in the first part of this post that I am working on why I started 12WBT I am hoping that when I can finish that blog people will be able to see the mental transformation that I know I have made.

I hope that everyone is having a fantastic day, take a moment to reflect on what you have achieved to this point in the game – if you are not happy with that ask yourself what you can do to be happy in 3 weeks time, and then JDFI!

Xx
S

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Update on my goals…..


I set these goals WAY back in the preseason tasks & then I stretched them 4 days into the 12WBT to make them a little more challenging.  Here they are again- with an indication of how I went (in red!)

1 month goal
  • Increase fitness until I can run for 20 minutes without stopping (I can currently run for 8 minutes at 8km/hr, 3-5% incline on treadmill) DONE
  • To run outside at least once per week. –New goal – Once a week do a bike ride immediately followed by a run - biathlon style DONE
  • Lose 4kgs (that’s 500g per week & will bring me into the 70’s) DONE
  • Do 20 push ups on knees (I can only do 10 now) – Fitness test proved I can actually do 28 so new goal – 40 DONE
  • NEW Goal – To bring 1km time trial result down by 39s to under 6 minutes My week 4 time trial was 6.10, but I am sure it will be better next week
  • To hold a proper plank position for 1 minute – I did this at the gym on Wednesday so new goal – 2 minutes I can do 1.30 without losing form, but I am still struggling with 2 mins
  • To make eating healthy a NORMAL activity, every meal. DONE
 3 month goals
  • Lose an additional 8 kgs (on top of the 3 I will lose in the first month). This will bring me into the 60’s – for the first time in 3 years since I stopped training. I have lost 6.7kgs to date – so still have 6.8kgs to go to get to goal weight
  • Increase fitness until I can run 5kms in 30 mins. I can now run for 30minutes (which is an achievement in itself!) now I have to work on speed
  • Run the Blue Lake Fun Run on the 21st of November – 6km of hills Registered & waiting to run
  • Do 50 push ups on knees, and 10 on toes I did this last week – Happy Days!
  • To hold a proper plank position for 2 minutes. – moved up to 1 month goals, so new 3 month goal will be to hold a  side plank for 1 minute (each side) This is a work in progress!
  • To purchase a bikini that makes me look smoken’ hot!
I haven’t changed my 3 month goals, they are a work in progress and I have 5 weeks to complete them.

Triathlon Goals
I have mentioned in my earlier blog that I have raced in 2 triathlons in the past 3 weeks – the Pinkies triathlon in Sydney on the 31st of October, and last Sunday at the Gatti Series in Adelaide.
A new goal which I am putting out there today is that I want to reduce the time it takes me to complete the “Tin-Man” triathlons in the Gatti Series (300m swim, 16.8k ride, 3k run).
My finishing time on the weekend was 1hour 20minutes 43seconds.  I had set myself 1hour 30mins to finish the course, so I was ecstatic to come in well under that personal target – however now the challenge begins!
The goals for the next 5 races are:
5th December – 1hr 15mins
9th January – 1hr 10mins
26th January – 1hr 15mins (there is a longer swim & run leg on this day)
20th February – 1hr 5mins
27th March – under 1 hour

Week 7 of the 12WBT

I must be the worlds worst blogger… I have to admit that when life starts to get busy I am not the best at managing & balancing my time – something always has to give… and this time the blog was abandoned for most of October!

I am extremely pleased with my progress over the past 7 weeks doing the 12WBT program, I have lost 6.7kgs, 8.1% of my body weight. My BMI has dropped from 27.55 (overweight) to 25.3 (ALMOST healthy) I am sure that next Wednesday I will see a BMI of under 25 (healthy) I still have 6.8kgs to loose before I am at my goal weight of 68kgs but it is achievable & I will get there by Christmas.

I last did measurements 3 weeks ago – I will do them again next week. For now I can report that I have lost 9cms from my waist, and 8cms from my boobs. At that stage my hips & thighs had not moved at all, but I am hopefully that they will have shrunk a little this time around.
I graphed my weight loss today (I know it is a little geeky – but I wanted to see where I have come & where I am going!)

Ange (BellaXThree) has described the 12WBT as an epidemic which is spreading like a rampant virus around the country with outbreaks in little pockets around the world Check out her blog here This is SO accurate – I know that the physical results I am seeing in myself are reflected in my husband. He has lost almost 5 kgs over the 7 weeks – and that is without exercising, and without strict conformation to Mish’s diets too.
My mother has watched a few of Mish’s videos with me, and she even attended the “Pain in the Domain” session with me a month ago when I was in Sydney. Mum is very healthy and keeps a good track of her weight & fitness, but is super impressed by the program.
If you want to lose weight, tone up, or generally improve your health & wellbeing I can not stress enough the benefits of this program (click here to pre-register for Round 4 – starting January 2011) (click here to pre-register for Round 4 – starting January 2011)

You see 12WBT is not just about losing weight, or eating healthy – 12WBT is about changing your attitude towards life. Since commencing 7 weeks ago I have entered (and completed!) 2 triathlons, I now exercise 4-6 times per week and I have just registered myself & my husband for the Blue Lake Fun Run in 2 weeks time. This fun run is 6.8km of hills – around the Mount Gambier’s Blue Lake.
This run is particularly important to me – it is the run which kicked of my weight loss journey 4 months ago…. You see I drive a long way to work each day, and radio reception around here is dodgey, so I listen to ABC radio. On the morning show on the 16th of July they announced that the Blue Lake Fun Run would be running on the 21st of November (I know the exact date, because I made a note in my phone on that day) I thought, 3kms around the lake – I can do that!
I started the C25K program the next week – I taught myself how to run again, at the same time I was on facebook & saw the add for Michelle Bridges 12WBT, I clicked like & started to see the wonderful results people were having from Round 2… I was hooked!

If I hadn’t heard the presenter mentioning the Mt Gambier fun run, then I wouldn’t have gone onto Facebook to look at C25K & I wouldn’t have seen the add for 12WBT & I wouldn’t have lost 6.7kgs & I wouldn’t be fit & healthy & living life to the fullest!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Pinkies Triathlon Sydney - 12WBT Mini Milestone

So those of you that are regular readers, or who follow me on twitter know that I have had a rather rough week, last week, and to tell you the truth I wrote this blog at the airport on my way home, I just FORGOT to post it until now :)
.
I went to Sydney last Saturday for my Grandmothers funeral, and then followed it with a quick day trip to Mildura for a work course, and then back to Sydney ready for my mini-milestone – the 2010 Ramsay Health Care Pinkie Triathlon.
It was to be 200m of swimming, 6km of cycling & 2km of running, all around the Sydney Olympic venue – Homebush stadium.
So on Saturday mum & I got up at the crack of dawn (literally it was like 5.30am!) and headed off… it was all VERY exciting.

Mums event was first (she was braver than I and had registered for the long course event - 300m swim, 9km ride & 3km run). I was able to watch her get in the pool & then ran around to the transition area so I could cheer her on some more.
Mum went SO well she finished the swim in 8.58mins, the bike leg in 26.14mins & the run in 18.22mins, making her official race time 53.34mins.
She finished 38th in her age group (out of 73 finishers) & 430th overall (out of 789 finishers)

My race was SOOOO fun… I honestly thought I was drowning in the swim leg, at one point I had other girls grabbing at my legs, and I was kicked in the ribs going around the buoys which knocked the air out of me… I left the pool feeling rather overwhelmed, not sure why I had decided to enter this stupid race, and didn’t I realise that I still had the cycle & run to go… as I ran to the transition area, I saw mum & she cheered me on… I have to admit that I ran a little faster after hearing her voice!
The transition was slow… I had to pull my bike pants on over my swimmers, and then another singlet on over my wet one, thankfully there was an event helper there to help! I then was off on the ride…. Mum had arranged for me to borrow a bike from one of her friends, it was a little older than mine, and the gears were not so good, but the bike leg was awesome… it was only 6km, and I breezed through it, I am sure I should have pushed harder, as the race splits indicted that I only rode at 17.13km/hr when I know that in my training runs I have been averaging closer to 23km/hr.
The run leg was as per usual HARD work for me… I just can’t break through the mental discomfort of running, and I have trouble with adjusting my speed, so that I end up walking. The headwind at this stage was STRONG and I was running into it…. I walked a little and then mum saw me and yelled out “why are you walking” to which I replied “you weren’t supposed to see that!” then she yelled “well I did so RUN!!”. The final 400 m were fun again, I was able to lengthen my stride and really push towards the end… which I was SO glad I did because my official race time was 39.18mins, under the 45 minute goal I had set myself!! J
I was very happy with my splits, I finished the swim in 5.56mins, the bike leg in 21.01mins & the run in 12.2mins, making my official race time 39.18mins.
I feel that I should have pushed LOTS harder in the cycle leg, and of course I should have ran the whole way in the run – but I did note that my speed in the run was 9.72km/hr despite my walking at times which I am very happy about.

My next triathlon will require a much harder effort. I have registered for the Gatti Series in the Tin-Man category. This will be a 300m swim, a 16.8km ride & a 3km run. This race is on the 31st of October, and I am now on the hunt for a proper Tri-Suit to make the race easier, and I am ready to put in the extra training to bring my race time down.




Sunday, October 10, 2010

Pom.....

The past week has been crazy, I found out that the woman who was nearly my grandma  died last week, so this threw me mentally. Physically I am fine, and I have continued with my planed program with food & exercise, Mentally well.... you might know... losing a loved one SUCKS big time. Pom is my step fathers mother, and I have known her since I was 12, she welcomed me into her family & her heart as if I was really her grandchild.
It is hard, I want to be REALLY upset, but part of me feels like I have to be strong. I am a cry’er from way back, I hate any confrontation and I cry at any given issue.... it is not a good trait, and one that I struggle to control (particularly in workplace performance conversations, or tense discussions with people).
I am not sure how I will get through the funeral, I know I will cry – but it is ok, I am allowed to grieve... what I don’t know how to deal with is missing the monthly phone calls with this lady, or the short visits for coffee when I was in Sydney. I know that at times I hated having to visit, it was boring, and I really didn’t care to hear what she said at times, but you know now looking back I value each and every interaction I had with Pom.
I have mentioned my amazing mother a few times, but it is because of her that I have such close relationships with my family. She is the one that reminded me to visit, that reminded me to call & simply say hello... all those 10 minute phone calls whilst I was driving home from work meant so much to Pom, and now also to me... I will miss making them.
Pom was an amazing woman, a state netballer in her youth, mother of 3, grandmother  to 1 (well and me!) and beloved wife of over 50 years.
I will miss her........