My crew

Over the last 9 months I have made some AMAZING friends doing the 12WBT. I am shocked at how close some of us have become in such a short time. I joined a FaceBook group early in January - and there were about 50 members... 10 of which were active!

We now have close to 300 members with so many active! And we are all so supportive of one another! Someone is down? Another is there to kick us up the bum - or give a hug if that is preferred :)

But I love my girls. I meet some in my nearby town after the gym once a week, just to have coffee and chat! I miss them if I don't see them often! We all catch up for fun runs and exercise sessions and we have a blast. It is amazing how much fun I am having getting fit! Who would have thought??

Here are some pics of us growing in numbers over the year so far. These are from our fitness tests from February, through to now!

We're growing! <3

Permission to be a slacker...

Long time no chat! I miss this. I miss telling the world how awesome I am! I miss you!! My last post was eons ago. Let me fill you in on what has been happening in the journey to 'Find Marnie"...


Round 1 - you all know I smashed out a 16.8kg loss... fab :D
Round 2 - Start weight 79.9kg, end weight 77.8kg :/ Not so fab. A loss is a loss, but it was terribly disappointing.
Round 3 - Start weight: 77.8kg, Current weight: 75.5 

So I've coasted for 5 months... May - October has seen me take my foot off the accelerator... Absolutely well and truly. -6.5kgs since May 6... I've kept up the exercise because I LOVE IT... Absolutely love the feeling exercise gives me and love that I can start to tone up my flabby bits. I love that I can chase my kids around the house and help the hub around the house with more manual tasks. I'm strong! And I LOVE IT! And I'm a tad grumpy if I don't get to exercise!!

So imagine what the numbers on the scale would be like if I didn't keep the exercise up?? Oh my goodness - I'm not keen to think about that. Because every food rule that I have learned over the first 12 weeks of the 12WBT, I have broken over and over again. A bikkie? Sure, why not... Hey! You've exercised today - why not have 3... or the whole effing packet! Bah! I gave myself permission, day in and day out to eat what I wanted.

When I found myself down with Sinusitis for the last 3 weeks, I gave myself permission to tone the exercise down a notch too... I felt horrid, started getting really snarky at everyone and felt terrible about myself. Exercise would have snapped this out of me, but I refused.

The days are getting lighter earlier and the sun is setting later in the evenings and I used to be out there running/walking EVERY day... I was running out of excuses to just get out there and do it.

So today, sick of my internal bitching and whining, I made a personal affirmation to my group of girls in the South West Crew... I wrote a post explaining how crap I was feeling and I knew that only I could do something about it. So I am! Today is Day 1 and far out it was awesome! Feeling so positive and feeling so fabulous! It is week 7 of the program at the moment... But I am going to smash out these last 5 weeks. Look out world!

Not dead, just naughty!

When I go AWOL... I go REALLY AWOL. Hahaha. Apologise to those of you who have been waiting with bated breath.

I fell off the fitness wagon and am only now starting to climb back up. I had an excellent time in Melbourne for the finale and am getting back in to the swing of life without meal plans and trying to do the right thing food-wise.

Will come back and post some piccies of my weekend away. I know my facebook friends are sick to death of seeing photos of my fab weekend, so they'll get another hit when they come to check this lonely site out again!

Feeling really blah at the moment. I've just hauled my butt to the gym for the 3rd day in a row and am feeling every muscle that got slack over the past few weeks. I've got aches where people shouldn't ache! To top it off, only 3 people rocked up to the circuit class today which meant the trainer was on top of us - no slacking! I'm so sore and DOMS from today haven't even kicked in.

Food - ughh don't go there. I just ate 4 scotch finger biscuits for lunch. I've meal planned, so the dinners are controlled, but my lunch is so far out of control I really hope I can rein them back in before Round 2 starts next week! I'm cooking up a pea and ham soup this afternoon, so I'm hoping that will stop all this ridiculousness. :/

On a positive note, I haven't put on any weight since the end of round. But I've only lost 500g in 2.5 weeks. Hmmmm... for someone supposedly committed to this healthier life, I haven't done that great. But then I haven't done that badly either. It could be much worse.

Ok, my quick post to let you know I'm alive has turned into a novella. I'll check back in when I have more time!

xx

The Running Centre

These people are awesome. If you live anywhere near Perth and are in need of new running shoes - or any fitness paraphernalia, then Cody and his team at the Running Centre are the people to see.

My new shoes feel like I'm running on clouds and after buying them and wearing them for over a week, not a single blister has graced my feet. They are truly awesome shoes. But holy hell - they are the UGLIEST effing running shoes I have ever owned. So ugly, the leaves wilt when I run past.

See? UGLY! But oh so very comfortable. And they fit like a dream. One of the Running Centre team give you a survey when you arrive to find out your running/fitness needs. Right down to what socks you wear when running (this makes a difference how??? I forgot to ask!)

They have a 5-step Shoe Fitting system which really helps to decide which shoes are going to help you to run at your very best for your foot and your running style.

Step 1: The survey... right down to the socks you wear!
Step 2: Measurements. (Of your feet!) Not just the length, but width and what happens to your knees when you bend them. Very comprehensive!
Step 3:  Arch. They look at your arch using a fancy plate thingie. Very technical! I got told I had great arches. *Blush*
Step 4: Treadmill running. Just slowly! ;-) Guess they don't want you flying off the back of the treaddy and suing them! But while you're running, the team video your running style looking for little hints and tips that might help them work out what shoes would suit you.
Step 5: They bring out a range of shoes and you try them on - one type on one foot and then the other type on the other foot. Then you run some more. Outside... right out the front of the coffee shop and bank. Don't be too put out though. I'm sure the coffee drinkers were thinking that I was amazing looking and about to head to London for the games!

So thorough!

If you live in or near Perth... drop in and see them when you need new shoes. Their fitting system is WAY better than the other ones that are at some of the shoe chainstores. And the service is spot on! (Doesn't hurt that Cody is very easy on the eyes and his accent is lovely!)


You can find them at:

http://therunningcentre.com.au/

OR

 The-Running-Centre (Facebook) 

If you head to their website before heading in, sign up to their newsletter for at 20% discount on your purchases! If you do head in to see them, tell them I sent you!

They are in West Perth on Hay St, and the Red Cat bus drops you right out the front of their store. Super easy!

Disclaimer: I was not paid nor asked to write this post. I am not affiliated with TRC in any way. I bought my own shoes and wanted to shout to the world about how awesome The Running Centre is!

Final Fitness Test

I trekked into town today for my final fitness test. It has been raining here - 50mm of rain overnight, so our farm is very soggy. So soggy in fact, that I almost got bogged this morning on our road! Not a good sign for the winter to come if I'm getting bogged on the first big rain of the season! The hub is out there now 'fixing' it... But, I digress.

Week 12 fitness test was today. I was sooo nervous! I wanted to better my time from last week. It's amazing how competitive I have become - not with others, but with myself! I am desperately trying to push the boundaries every time I get out there. Which is a good thing. For sure! The women (and man) of the South West Perth Crew are so inspiring! There are some on their 3rd or 4th round that have lost 40+kg. So amazing. And then I remember that I (little old me) has lost 24kg. Far out. Everyone is looking fabulous and I can see all the hard work really paying off for them. Some are totally dedicated and are out burning their 500cals every day and eating squeaky clean, others started dedicated but are slowly dwindling (like me). But everyone there today has lost weight over the 12 weeks. Fantastic women!

And we were committed! The high school oval that we run on? Squishy, squelchy and totally waterlogged! Was not an easy run. I had a different game plan this week. I always seem to have heaps left in the tank by then end of the run and find myself sprinting at the end. So this time I went out fast and ran the first 250m at a sprint. I slowed down considerably when I hit the super soggy ground. My shoes and socks were totally drenched. We run 3 laps, so I had to run through that mess 3 times. YUCK! But the game plan seemed to work because by the end of the 1km I was exhausted... Nothing left for a sprint!

 

Solid improvements all the way. I was a bit disappointed with my Sit & Reach today, but my legs but so stiff after the run. I'm hoping that over the 4 week break from the end of this round, to the start of next round that my fitness will remain. I don't particularly want to go backwards when you see how far I have come!

Graphs...

This is the graph that greets me every time I log into the 12WBT site. It's like greeting an old friend. Gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, and if you're affectionate like me, a kiss on the cheek.




It shows me everything I need to know about how fabulous I am within a glance. The downward trend of the line does wonderful things to my self-belief.

Stats for the last weigh in:

Starting Weight (1 Jan):       106.8 kg
Last week's weight:               84.2 kg
This week's Weight:               83.1 kg

Weight lost this week:              1.1 kg
Weight lost during 12WBT:    15.7 kg

Weight lost overall:                23.7 kg

We've also done our measurements this week too...

 

69cm?? In 12 weeks? That's phenomenal. I think it was:

Week 1-4= 27.5cm
Week 5-8= 21.5cm
Week 9-12= 20.0cm

Pretty cool!

Shopping for a smaller bod!

Shopping after you've lost some weight is very daunting, but SO much fun! It was really interesting to see that my body doesn't fit a standard size. I'm a definite Size 12 (Australia) or a Medium on top. Narrow shoulders and small boobs (sob) help my fit into a Size 12 comfortably. However, the bottom half is a rock-solid Size 14 (and a long way from being a 12).

On my shopping list this weekend was:

** New running shoes
** Jeans
** Tall boots
** Sucky-in-undies
** Dressier jumpers/tops than my sports cardies.
** Sports Bra
** Smaller workout pants
** Winter uggboots for Master H and new winter flannelette PJs for the kiddies.

Me in my new jeans and shoes!

Thankfully, the Hub was gorgeous enough to take the kids to his mates' place where they could play with some other kids and let their mummy shop in peace. Oh the bliss. Not having to push a pram/stroller through clothing racks or entertaining children in a changeroom without them sucking on the mirror (oh the germs!). And shopping with kids always takes 10 times longer because you have to get them food to keep their hands, minds and bellies busy. You need to take one to the toilet, then get 15mins into your shopping and work out that the other one needs a nappy change. So I was VERY grateful for my shopping trip all alone!

 First stop was The Running Centre in West Perth for new shoes. I'll let you know about these awesome people in another post. I started to write it all down here and it took up a huge amount of space. I want to give them all the absolute credit they deserve, so they get their own post!


Next it was on to Harbourtown which is the factory direct outlet in Perth. Here I found some Lorna Jane pants. I was unconvinced when I bought them, but they were 20% off. I gave them the thumbs up after my run the next day! I also found the uggs for H. Out of all the shoe stores and bra stores though I couldn't find anything in my size. (And the boots still won't do up over my monster calves *sniffle*)

Off to Perth City and headed straight to Jeans West to grab my jeans. I knew what I wanted in style and colour and did NOT need the pushy assistant telling me that I needed 2 pairs. "Because they are 2 for $100", well lovie - that's $30 + an extra pair of jeans that I just didn't want/need. Anyway the exciting thing??? SIZE 13. I haven't been that size in jeans since 2003. Holy crap! 9 years!

Sucky-in-undies from David Jones... done. They worked a treat!

Spanx

Bra and boots :( :( didn't get either, but managed to pick up a cute pair of ballet flats to ease my sadness! And I completely forgot to look for jumpers! I was fairly warm while flitting from shop to shop!

I absolutely feel more confident about being in 'normal sizes' stores. It was pleasant to not feel like the 'fat girl'. Looking forward to another shopping trip in a couple of months. I wonder what size I'll be then?

This weekend just gone was a biggie. We went to Perth to see Mary Poppins in the theatre. I also went SHOPPING. More on that tomorrow. Mary Poppins was awesome. More than awesome... SuperCaliFreakingAwesome!

I got glammed up and looked great. I'd bough sucky-in-undies that day during my shopping trip as my dress that I was planning to wear was a tad clingy. Do you think I remembered to take photos? Nuh... IDIOT!

I felt confident in what I was wearing and I fit into a dress I'd bought online in November that didn't fit way back then. Well, technically it did fit... It's clingy and stretchy so I'm sure it would fit a much bigger me. But anyways, I never felt confident in myself or my look wearing it, and I never got around to wearing it. I've got (crappy) photos of the dress and me in it. I took it this arvo after my gym session, so please excuse the hair, no makeup, lack of shoes and the lack of sucky-in-undies.




Hello CUTE photo-bomber!

My phone takes blue-tinged photos under our fluorescent lights. So the dress is a little washed out. It's a grey-purple colour. I love it! It's probably even a little big on top. It was drape-y and I needed to keep my shoulders back so that I didnt flash everyone!

Next time I head out will probably be Melbourne! So I will definitely be photo-taking!

Look at me!

My first post on this little blog was full of sadness. I read it back to myself now and I think, holy moly, I really didn't like the person I had become. I don't think I actually envisaged myself in the position that I'm in now.

The girls on my 12WBT South West Perth Crew facebook page were talking about their achievements through this round and it is astonishing how far we have come in only 12 little weeks.

So I thought in total self-centreness, I would tell you how fabulous I am *snort*

Fitness Achievements:
** I can run. A long way. This past weekend while we were in Perth enjoying a weekend with friends and family, I took a chance to run through my old neighbourhood. I'll take you on my run in another post! Anyway, I can run - over 5kms. And when I finish, I feel exhausted, but those exercise endorphins are amazing! I feel on top of the world! The sense of accomplishment is amazing!

**I am no longer out of breath as I climb stairs. Our hotel on the weekend was great. It even had lifts. But every time I went up to my room, I used the stairs. Even with Miss M in my arms. Sure, I get puffed by the 8th floor, but I don't feel like I'm dying!

**I can complete a whole fitness class. I might need to take a rest after the 25th tricep curl, but I complete it without feeling exhausted.

** I run on the treadmill. The treadmill used to scare me. At 106kg I used to thump on the treadmill thinking it was going to break underneath me. It never did, but boy did I feel like a heffalump! I still have a way to go to look amazingly fit on the old treddie, but I'm getting there!

**I can powerwalk up my bastard of a hill. I could probably even run the thing, but haven't tried. (Might make this a challenge for later this week!)

Weight achievements:
** I've lost 22.6kg. In 17 weeks. Far out.
** I'm no longer obese, but overweight according to my BMI.
** I've dropped 2 dress sizes. I was squeezing out of my Size 18s when I started on January 1. Now I fit comfortably in a size 14! (Clothes shopping on the weekend was so much fun!
** In 12 weeks I've lost 63cm from my body. *blink blink*

Mental achievements:
** I can fight my internal monster when it tells me that I've had enough (and win!)
** I can say no to that yummy piece of cake and not regret it. Now I just have to work out how to do it without offending the baker :(
**I am happier, more confident and definitely not afraid to try new things.

I'll do another post in a few weeks time with my goals for Round 2! There are some doooooozies!

Weigh in Day #11

I was a LOT scared of the scales this morning. I jumped on there last night after a pretty rotten day and nearly died. I'd put on 0.9kg!!! The night before weigh in and I weight 0.9kg heavier than I did last week. Holy crap. I shrugged it off, drank a heap of water and trusted that I'd had a solid exercising week, so hopefully that would make up for my shitty food choices.

I woke up this morning not feeling the best, but rolled out of bed, trudged up to the loo and then jumped on the scales.

It showed a loss! Of 0.8kg. Which means overnight I lost 1.7kg. CRAZY.

Yesterday was a carb-free, fruit-free day. Mish and the 12WBT crew call them 'Accelerator Days'. All day I craved carbs... Anything carb, but mostly I wanted white bread and butter. Comfort food. Breakfast without carbs was like dying a slow death. Eggs and baked beans and a fried tomato. Tasty, but I missed the bread. Lunch I had leftover prawns from the other night with a salad *yum*. I also had a yoghurt smoothie too which was delicious and really filling. But H's peanutbutter sandwich was making googly-eyes at me! Dinner we had fish and ratatouille. Meh.

Snacks were the worst though. Everything that I wanted to snack on had carbs! Pah! I settled for carrot sticks and hummus, ham and cheese and tomatoes. Booooooooring. I have one more accelerator day left (next tuesday) and I was adamant that I wasn't going to do it next week because it was so painful. But if it helped to show that 0.8kg loss on the scales this morning I will do anything!

Stats for this week's weigh in:

Starting Weight (1 Jan):       106.8 kg
Last week's weight:               85.0 kg
This week's Weight:               84.2 kg

Weight lost this week:              0.8 kg
Weight lost during 12WBT:    14.6 kg

Weight lost overall:                22.6 kg

Blogger Challenge Week 10: Benefits

What are the benefits you have noticed in the way you look?
What haven't I noticed? My waist is smaller, my collarbones are sticking out, my boobs are smaller and saggier *sob*, my feet are thinner (I think I've dropped a half size in shoes!) I can sit in chairs without too much flab hanging over the sides (looking forward to being able to sit comfortably in aeroplane seats! My nails are stronger and my hair has more volume. And the biggest change? My calves! Since I've been wearing boots, I've never been able to fit a pair of boots in the calves. NEVER. I've had to shop online for boots with a wider allowance in the calves. I tried a pair of boots on in the shop the other day and I can fit them! WOOOO HOOO! Now to find a pair that I really like.

What are the benefits you have noticed in your mindset? What breakthroughs have you had along the way?

I KNOW I can do it. I KNOW that I can run for a long distance. I know when my body is puffed and tired, I can back off on the intensity instead of giving up. I trust in myself. I CAN say no to the piece of cake, maccas drive through, dessert etc. I know that I chave good days and bad days with my food and exercise, but I try not to beat myself up about it. I work harder the next day!

What are the benefits you have noticed in your fitness levels?

I can play with my kids without feeling like I need to sit down! I can walk up a light of stairs without puffing. I can walk up my hill without stopping. I can run! Oh my goodness - I can run! I can keep up with my husband's long strides without feeling out of breath. I can push both kids in the pram (a workout in itself!) for long distances. I ran a 5km fun run a few weeks ago. I never would have attempted that, let alone complete it!

And finally, what benefits have you noticed in your health? I haven't been sick since I've started this journey. Not a sniffle or a spew bug or a spot. My hayfever has improved. My blood pressure (which skyrocketed during both pregnancies) is normal. I don't know whether it's the clean, fresh air that has made a difference, or my new healthy lifestyle. Either way, 12wbt has done this!

24th April

Remember last month when I posted a photo of me from the 24th of February and the 24th of March? It was great seeing a side-by-side shot of me, a month apart.

Today I took another pic. It's the 24th of April! There are slight differences, but you can really see that the weight loss is slowing. I can see my lumps and bumps evening out and my arms tightening (thank you Pump class!).

Gym Membership

I'm going to join the gym that I go to. I have been going as a casual for the last 4 months as it was only $6 for a class and I was only going once a week. They've now upped their casual prices to $8. Still cheap, but I'm going more often.

I've decided that the classes are awesome and I push myself so much more than I do at home. I've been to the gym Tuesday and Friday this week and may even make the trek in 3x per week if I sign up. Downside to gymming is that the kids sleep in the car on the way home and it's hit and miss to whether I can get them to sleep at home after their lunch. Normally there's no way that either of them will sleep. But occasionally (like today) I get a win and the little-est will go back to sleep.

So for 6 months it's $220. If I break that down to weekly it's about $8.50 a week. Not too bad. The killer is the cost of the creche. $10 for both kids to go.

I'm going to join next week. Hopefully there'll be someone there to take my money!

Dinner out!

The hub and I dropped the kids at my parents' house last night so that we could go out for dinner. It was a win-win for everyone as my parents just adore their grandkids (even when both kids are stuffed up with a cold and cranky!). So we glammed up and went to dinner (fully paid for by the hub's work!) and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

I also felt entirely guilty about everything that went in my mouth. But considering that it was my first night out on the program I think I'm entitled to a treat night. I could have made MUCH better choices, but I didn't. I even had a glass of wine. It was all just fabulous! Menu for the evening:

Entree: The hub and I shared the entrees... Salt & Pepper Squid with sweet potato crisps (yum) and Chilli Prawns.

Main: Fettucine Gamberetti. This was such a bad choice. Cream, pasta, garlic, prawns... But ohhh so yummy. I'm sure there were 1200 calories just in this meal. I only ate half of it. So full.

We were going to have dessert too, but I was so full and I really didn't want to pour even more calories into my mouth than I already had.

Frog Belly: Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (Margaret River)

Speaking of pouring calories in... This wine. Oh my goodness. So YUMMY! I haven't had a glass of wine in over 2 years (pregnancy and breastfeeding then a health kick kinda puts you in an alcohol-free zone). I stopped at one. But I could have easily had a whole bottle!

The next time I'm in Margs I'm buying a case of these. Or 4.

To make the best of a kid-free night we also went to the movies. A 'proper' dinner date! And it was the first time in I don't know how many years that neither of us had a bag of MnMs or skittles or the like. I used to eat a whole huge bag nearly during the ads before the movie! Talk about binging! I didn't miss the mindless eating.

And then home again to my parents house (after midnight!) for the kids to wake us up at 5.15am. *sigh* so tired!  I only wish my panda eyes looked this cute:

Stats...

I tripped and a few solid little easter eggs hit my mouth this week. Honest!  Have made some poor choices food wise this week. Yesterday I didn't eat lunch. I ate 2 ANZAC bikkies instead :/

I rocked it out at the gym yesterday though, and Sunday was a great exercise day, so I'm hoping that evened out the numbers on the scale!

Another 1kg loss this week. Loving this program, loving my enthusiasm and loving life! Exactly 10kg until my first goal weight!


Stats for this week's weigh in:

Starting Weight (1 Jan):       106.8 kg
Last week's weight:               86.0 kg
This week's Weight:               85.0 kg

Weight lost this week:              1.0 kg
Weight lost during 12WBT:    13.8 kg

Weight lost overall:                21.8 kg

Stiff and sore and OWWW!

I'm still sore from the fun run. I knew I would have some DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), but I didn't realise that the little muscle behind my knee that was aggravating me during my run would now be protesting... loudly!

I've limped and hobbled around all of yesterday and I'm blaming the soreness for the lack of housework done yesterday! So instead of wallowing today, I took myself off to the gym to shake my routine up a bit! I needed to get out of the house as the outdoor workouts are just not motivating me at the moment.

The trainer today was awesome! She had an amazing circuit set up and she had time to come around to all of us and correct technique, offer advice and be our general kick-up-the-butt! We even had a stair-run half way through which sent my heartrate sky rocketing!

But the twinge in my knee/butt let me know that it was not pleased to be out and about. Crap. It's really sore now! I'm just stretching it and trying to keep it warm to see if it will heal on it's own.

I've ordered that dress from the UK for the finale in a size 14, so am re-committing to losing this weight! Finale is in 4 weeks and am hoping to lost another 4kg by then - totally doable with my track record! I am desperate not to have to shop for another dress in a couple of weeks because this one doesn't fit/suit. But this soreness is putting a rather big downer on those hopes!