So week 12 starts tomorrow. It’s the last week! OMG!
In the last 2 weeks I have lost 1.5kg! Last week was a little loss but a loss nonetheless. I hadn’t been feeling well as I think I had been eating a little bit too much cheese and so my tummy was acting up a lot and so I was very bloated and gross.
I also signed up for round 2 of the challenge just to get to my final end point. I have reassessed my goals and decided that I want to try getting down another 2kg from my original goal as it appears it is still healthy for me to be that way. I am also going to try the lean and strong and lean and fit program in order to get there. I am so excited for it.
Anyway, nothing else much to report on these last 2 weeks as it has been busy busy busy and I’m just trying to get by till my weekend jaunt to Melbourne. It will awesome. Hopefully I make it to the training session and see if I can drag my brother along. LOL.
This weekend has been filled by weddings. Well 2. First up was the big one, the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. How beautiful was she? Alexander McQueen dress designed by Sarah Burton. Gorgeous. Simple and uncomplicated. I loved that she wore a veil.
Next up was the wedding of my two dearest friends, Kristine and Andrew. I met Kristine about 5-6 years ago when I started working at a particular company that shall be nameless. From there I met Andrew and I have to say these 2 are a perfect match! I couldn’t have been happier when they announced they would be getting married. It was a beautiful ceremony where I almost burst into tears. I did have to get the tissues out during the reception dinner during the speeches.
Kristine’s sister made a beautiful wedding cake and cupcakes for the guests and it was a knockout! Absolutely delicious. I haven’t had the cupcake yet but everyone has raved about it. I dropped mine otherwise there would’ve been photos. Here’s the cake.
It’s Easter long weekend and I’m bored shitless! Yesterday was an amazing day at the races for my friend’s hens party. We went to Eagle Farm Racecourse. It was all catered and the food was AMAZING (a few baddies in there which I snuck a few in but hey not like I eat like this everyday). I managed to win a bit of cash which went towards a bottle of sparkling wine and dinner. I do have to admit yesterday was a blowout on the food front. I was a little disappointed but at the same time I was glad to have a wonderful day out with my friends. It was something I hadn’t done for a very long time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I am still on track with my weighloss goals. Today went back to eating clean and loved tonight’s dinner which was Pad Thai. I exchanged the prawns for chicken as the shops were all closed so I couldn’t get my hands on some fresh prawns. I’m picky about prawns and if I can’t get them fresh, I’ll skip it. Took a long walk today to Southbank and checked out the markets and the art museums which were open today. Bumped into Wallabies coach Robbie Deans as well.
I spent Good Friday cleaning. I had a ‘long’ run in the afternoon and tried out this new app, Jeff Galloway’s Ultimate 5K. It is a pretty good app to get anyone who has never run, up and running. I’ve run long distance before but it has been a while and slowly getting myself back into it. It includes beginner sessions of 1min walk, 1min run. I quite like that because it does give me a bit of a break. Got all the way to Kangaroo Point and back to the Gardens after that. Please with the effort and will do it again tomorrow morning. Hopefully not as hot as it was on Friday.
So rounding up on week 9. I lost 0.6kg which brought my total weightloss in 9 weeks to 7kg. It means I am only 3kg to my goal weight. Not long now till week 12 and my flying down to Melbourne. Very excited about the training session with Mish. I want to go to the finale party but have noone to go with and I don’t want to sort of abandon my family who I’m visiting there. I will attend the finale party in round 2 instead. I HAVE TO MEET MISH ONE DAY!
I have to admit this long weekend is killing me. I’m so bored. Nothing to do but tidy up and organise which isn’t a bad thing but when I’m done, I’m kind of thinking what to do next. I was thinking of updating the website but can’t think of what to do any really don’t have the patience at the moment to stare at the screen all day. We shall see. Maybe just some colour changes or something. Anyway, that’s it for now. Week 10 tomorrow and weigh-in on Wednesday. Let’s see if my Easter has killed the dream. Long weekends, such a love hate relationship.
As part of the 12WBT week 8 program was the mini milestone. This week was a triathlon. I decided a number of times what I was going to do and ended up doing the row, ride and run. It was raining and pretty cold yesterday so I couldn’t do the swim which I wanted to do. It took me about 2hrs 15mins all up. The rower didn’t have the distance because the computer program on it wasn’t working. Dodgy gym equipment in my building. Made me a little mad but I stuck it out on it for about 20 mins figuring that would get me the distance required. Looking at some of the times other people did I probably did more or less the distance. I did the bike first. 25km and I was already wrecked by the end of it. The row as next followed by the run. The run was hard after already doing about an hour of workout. I ran, jogged and walked. Took me about 45 mins to do the 6km run. Or well that was what the treadmill told me. I was getting so frustrated because the distance calculator was taking its time to show my distance. LOL. Running on a treadmill is really a harder mental battle than running outside where there are more physical goals you can use to motivate you. Anyway, I did it and I am way proud of my effort. I’m sure I can beat it in week 12.
Overall progress is going well. I am beginning to feel confident in my goals and looking forward to the end and a bit of a reward. 2 red flag weekends with Easter coming up and I have a hens day and a wedding to attend. It also doesn’t help the gym will be closed a fair bit and I can’t get to a few classes on the Saturdays because of those events. I am going to have to work out a plan on what I will do over the next 2 weeks to make sure I DO get my exercise in.
I was poking around the pantry for a small bite after my breakfast this morning because I still felt hungry and found my mars bars that I didn’t throw out. I forgot I had them. Picked it up. Couldn’t find the nutrition panel on it. Put it down and closed the pantry.
Wow wow, how time flies. Week 8 starts soon. I’ve lost 5.4kg to date. It is a massive whoop whoop for me. I’m pleased with my progress. I am now onto my last 4.4kg. Well, probably not that precise but I would love to get down to a reasonable weight. I look OK now but feeling like I could go down a little bit more. Need to lose my flabby arms. HAHAHA! I have finally been able to get into some old pants and “new” pants (pants bought for me that I couldn’t quite get into but can just squeeze into now). Ha! Euro size 42 be gone! Hello size 40! I think just that little bit more and I would be happy and so much more confident.
Week 8 also signifies my next mini milestone. This milestone that has been planned is to be a triathlon. I am going to do a 800m swim (or 2500m row, depends on the weather – I have an outdoor pool and the weather here has gotten really cold), 25km ride and 6km run. I am going to try to do it at one go but I think I might end up having to take a bit of a breather in between. Will definitely update with times.
Anyway, I should get some sleep because tomorrow I want to make it in for some early classes at the gym. Should be a good day!
Today for some reason I had a bit of a moment where I wanted to smash something. I feel it is the time to explain why I am doing this.
I am doing the 12WBT challenge for the reason of getting back into shape after a disastrous 2010 and to get out of a fitness and diet/nutrition rut. The year of travel was great (some work trips, some not so good news trips) but also it was a challenging year. I lost 3 members of my family in one year and it was especially hard when I lost my grandfather. When the new year arrived, I was in Singapore on holidays and trying on clothes at the shops. It was a shock to the system when clothes of a particular size I normally would buy could no longer fit well. I also noticed my belly being more prominent than what I was used to. I was definitely more bloated and I believe it was to do with having too much processed foods. Eating too much, drinking too much and not exercising as much was really taking its toll.
I was not happy.
People might be thinking, why? I look OK. A little chubby but nothing that would say “OMG, she’s so fat”. I guess it has something to do with my own confidence. I am a pretty outgoing person. I think I am a very gregarious character but there are some things that some people don’t know about me. One of the main things is that my weight has always been a battlefield for me. I was teased a little in school for being chubby and that did make me feel pretty crap. In school, I was always active but I guess once I reached 16, I changed. I stopped going for my extra-curricular activities that involved lots of running and drills, etc. That was when the weight piled on. It didn’t help that as a teenager I had a healthy appetite for fast food and all the hawker fare available in Singapore. After finishing my ‘O’ levels, I managed to lose some of that weight but still was chubby.
I think growing up in an environment during my teenage years where all the other girls were smaller than you didn’t help. Asian girls are thin. They eat anything and still stay the same. This is what still makes me upset. I’m thinking why am I not like that.
So here I am, making a change in myself to make myself feel better about who I am and what I am. I do not want to be overweight anymore. This is why I am taking part in this challenge. I know not everyone will give me the encouragement that I feel I deserve and everyone would love to give their 2 cents. Please don’t give me your 2 cents. Just give me a high-5 and I’ll be happy.
Well more like the tools I have been using to track my calories.
First up is the iPhone app, Livestrong. It has a huge database of foods with calories and portion sizes. I normally weigh out my food that I will have as snacks (typically grapes, strawberries, etc) and then try to pick out the most relevant item. Some of the measurements are American but there are heaps of Aussie products in their catalog. Just have to trawl through it. It also has this great feature of remembering the foods you have eaten in the past. This saves time when trying to find food you eat regularly. As for the meals in the 12WBT program, if the recipes have been followed correctly, I just use the custom button and add in the calories of that meal. Easy tool to use and helps me to stay under the 1200 calorie mark. Another great feature is that it also tracks calorie expenditure. So together with the heart rate monitor, you can keep a record of everything you have done for the day.
Livestrong iPhone app
The next tool which is a must have for weight loss (and life in general) is my Polar heart rate monitor. I purchased the F7. It has been my best friend throughout this process and has also helped to motivate me. Checking it every now and then during my workout (especially cardio workouts) helps me to achieve the calorie expenditure for the day.
I don’t think without these 2 items I would be where I am today. I think if you are serious about getting your body back on track, these 2 tools along with everything else, will definitely be of benefit!
Week 6 begins tomorrow and I have lost a total 4kg since beginning the program. I haven’t weighed myself recently so I can’t say if I’m still on track. I do have to say that I can now wear certain items better than I did before! Woohoo. I am feeling a little worse for wear but I just think that is down to the fact that I have been so busy during the week. The nutrition has been going down so easily with everything being planned out. I have been able to pre-prepare a lot of food and usually just taking them out of the fridge or the freezer. Exercise has been easy since I just head over right after work and smash it out for an hour. Pleased that I have been able to burn more than 400 calories every session. I hope that by the next weigh-in I would only have 5kg left to go. I can’t seriously believe this works.
I guess my only grip has been trying to work in a social life with this program. With so much planning involved, I can’t really “wing it”. Sorry to all my friends I haven’t seen. I will definitely make more of an effort to not let my new routine get in the way but it does help with advanced invitations.
It is week 4 and it is the first milestone of the program (12WBT). I am pleased with the progress I’ve made over these few weeks despite being sick last week. All up I have lost 2.7kg. I think that is so far so good. I calculated that if I keep this up, I will lose around 9kg by the end of it! I have also lost a total of 11cm all over! It isn’t the biggest thing but hey, I am starting to see the difference. Going to keep it up! I love this program and I am going to recommend it to everyone to give it a go. I might sign up for the next round when I am done.
My milestone task this week will try to attempt to do a proper effort of 3 classes on Saturday. I will definitely try to update on how I go.
Week 2 is almost coming to a close and so far I am pleased with my effort. Progress-wise, didn’t get to where I wanted but still happy anyway. Today I smashed it out for Saturday Super Set and managed to burn 900 calories for my effort. It was hard but I feel good now after it. I still have energy to do my chores! AMAZING! Hahaha… Food this week was a bit blah. I didn’t really like the menu too much so I mixed it up a bit. Tonight I will have the nachos because I can’t stand seeing the lentils still in the fridge and mountain bread still sitting on the counter. Managed to put the bread and muffins in the freezer for another week. I have to admit it is so hard buying for one. Week 3′s menu looks awesome. Love it but will change the breakfast to the same as this week because I actually liked it and it wasn’t too much of a chore to do in the mornings.
Other than that, a pretty normal week with nothing special to report. I haven’t been out this week to the shops so not sure what is going on there and haven’t eaten anywhere out that is worth mentioning. So with that, I will leave you with this amazing performance by Adele. Currently in love with her new album, 21. Please get it! Well worth it.
Last week was a little loss but a loss nonetheless. I hadn’t been feeling well as I think I had been eating a little bit too much cheese and so my tummy was acting up a lot and so I was very bloated and gross.
