I joined the Winter Challenge on the WW forum a month back. It's been a slightly rocky month with my little blow out but I still think my goal is achievable with a little hard work and good quality choices.
My goal is to be 90kg by the 31st of May. Meaning I need to lose 8.9kg in 8 and half weeks. Optimistic? Maybe, but i'm going to give it my best shot!
WW Winter Challenge
Biggest Loser Vent
You see this is exactly why I should have continued my boycott and not watched this show.
Tonight I was catching up on a little tv (yay for Foxtel IQ) and watched Monday night's episode of The Biggest Loser. I have to tell you the attitude of some of the contestants and the trainers to losing 0.9g or gain 0.1g was absolutely gobsmacking!!
Yes, yes, I know it's a tv program, ratings matter and realistic weightloss would be nowhere near as interesting to watch BUT there are people in this world who watch this show and take a lot of the advice and attitudes as gospel and to put out there that a 900 gram loss is inadequate is pathetic. The body is a mysterous machine and will do odd things, the contestants had been in NZ for a week and not exercising anywhere near as much and they have started to introduce some weights work into their routines. The fact that not once was it mentioned that muscle weighs more than fat or the fact that a change in routine can often cause your body to riot was morally irresponsible.
I have had a 900gram loss twice and whilst I will fully admit that I always wish it was bigger I know that it is absolutely nothing to sneeze at! I've seen what a kilo of fat looks like, its HUGE! 900grams is almost an entire one of those. The concerning part of it all is if the contestants are not prepared to encounter small weight loss weeks or even the occassional gain they will fail when they get outside and don't have a trainer pushing them everyday.
Like I said, I know it is TV but that doesn't remove social responsibilty! I'm starting to think this show should come with big disclaimers and a DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME warning!
A little bit of house cleaning
I've found myself lacking an real inspiration to blog lately so thought I would do a bit of a tidy up and revamp to get myself motivated. If my blog looks a little unorganised over the next few days it's just because i'm getting things settled.
Week 11 Weigh In
Thrilled to report a 1.6kg weight loss this week, I nearly did a happy dance on the scales when I saw the numbers! 98.8 who would have thunk it!!
Obviously that means i've undone my Sydney damage and back to being a 90's girl. No more slip ups of that magnitude are allowed to occurr i've made that promise to myself.
I've started doing some stregnth training at the gym and suprisingly i'm really enjoying it. Still suffering from sore muscles a little as obviously they are being used for the first time in a long time but my body feels stronger and tighter after a session and that is a pretty amazing feeling when you have spent the last decade feeling more like wobbly jelly.
Week 10 Weigh In - Back On Track
Back on track this week with a nice 1.1kg loss. It turns out the sore muscles I've had all weekend from a few grulling sessions at gym have been worth it!
Week 9 & 10 - Lesson Learnt
Well well well what a fortnight it has been!
I missed weigh in last week as I was down in Sydney to say goodbye to my brother who has been deployed to the Gulf for six months. On the positive side I got to spend four wonderful days with him and my new niece which was fabulous. On the negative side I don't get to see my brother for the next six months (which really sucks as we are very close) and those four days were filled with a lot of emotional eating so it was no real surprise when I weighed myself on Tuesday and discovered that I had put on 2kg....ouch! Two weeks worth of good work gone in a week. I have no one to blame but myself and I'm not going to make any excuses for it. I made the choices I made and life goes on. Funnily enough though I was not as shattered as I thought I would be about the gain.
Gaining weight is certainly not a habit I want to get back into but as they say its not about how many times you fall down its about how you pick yourself back up and keep moving forward. So I decided instead of getting upset about a gain, that in all honesty I completely deserved, I was going to focus my frustration on getting those two kilos off as fast as I can. So off to the gym I went and enlisted the help of a personal trainer who has set up a weights and cardio program for me. I haven't done any strength training in years and oh my goodness, I have sore muscles in places I didn't even know I had muscles, it's crazy!
All in all a small disappoint has lead to a new found sense of self belief and determination. Life will not stop just because I've decided to finally treat myself well, I have to adapt to that and definitely make smarter choices in the future when travelling...lesson learned.
With weigh in tomorrow morning looming I'm hoping for a kilo loss, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed, I've done the work this week so hopefully it will pay off.
Oh and before I forget on my Sydney splurge my brother's girlfriend and I went for a nice little shopping trip to DFO where I picked up a snazzy new top and to my complete and total disbelief it was a size 16 and it fit me! Now granted it is a loose peasant type shirt and I know I'm certainly not a 16 across the board yet but it felt so good when it fit so I have to share:
Size 16 shirt, 5.9kg lighter and look I have cheek bones again!
Still a long way to go but I'm proud (despite the unflattering photos) of how far I've come already.
Week 8 Weigh In - Hello 90's LTNS
I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT!!!!!!
It took eight weeks and few stern pep talks BUT i'm finally back into double figures and so freakin' excited about it!
My 900 gram loss breaks the 100's and slides me comfortably to 99.5kg, I almost can't believe it - I haven't been in the ninties for a long long time!
Watch out 80's you are next! I only have one question, why on earth did it take me sooooo long to do this?
Feeling Proud
I'm not usually the kind to give myself a pat on the back but I'm so damn proud of myself right now!
Tonight I had the first real test of my determination to get this weight off once and for all and right up until crunch time I wasn't sure if I could do it. I had to attend an engagement party this evening and I was really worried about how I was I going to handle temptation being so close. It's easy at home, I don't have any of those naughty foods in the house any more but this was really the first time I've road tripped my new WW lifestyle.
Well I'm proud to announce that I handled it all with relative ease, I saved up a few points over the last few days to make sure I would stay well within my limit. I had a banana before I left home so that I wasn't starving when I got the party, I steered clear of all the lollies and junk and I'm not a drinker so that bit was easy. Then came dinner, there were a few options available but none of them super healthy (honey soy chicken, beef stroganoff, chili con carne, lasagna or potato bake) so I had a very small serving of chili con carne and steamed vegetables. Then came the really hard part....dessert! They served pavlova, I LOVE pavlova and I do have to say I did contemplate having just a little bit but with weigh in on Monday looming I simply reminded myself that the 5 minutes of enjoyment I would get out of the Pavlova are going to be of absolutely no comfort to me on Monday morning when I weigh in if they impact my loss for the week. I reminded myself that no food on this planet, not even pavlova, will taste as good as been thin will feel and with that I removed myself from the dessert area and that was that...no more temptation!
It was such a huge breakthrough for me, as I find it easy to make excuses about food when in social situations, so to be able to come through one without feeling any regret is just wonderful. I am really starting to notice the mental changes in relation to my approach to food. Most days I make better choices without evening thinking about it now and the days I need to kick myself up the bum and remind myself to be good are becoming few and far between so.... yay me!
Ok gloat over!
Week 7 Weigh In
I've been run off my feet so far this week and haven't even had a chance to celebrate my latest weight loss BUT am thrilled that I lost another 1.3kg this week bringing my total weight loss to 7kg in 7 weeks and only 400grams off the elusive double figures wooo hooo!
After years of yoyo dieting and being the gullible fool that fell for fad diets it is remarkable to me how much better I feel this time round. I don't feel like i'm dieting i'm just making healthier choices and my life is so much better for it.
I've been thinking a bit about rewards this week given that I have now passed my 5kg and 5% milestones. I want to celebrate the fact that i'm sticking to this and so far doing relatively well and of course I don't want my rewards to be food related. I really like the idea of a charm braclet, with a new charm being added each time I lose 5kg. It is something I could keep forever as a reminder to how far i've come. So this weekend will be dedicated to jewellery shopping I'm thinking. Although, being the typical gemini I am, that is always subject to change :)
