On the road again...

...from (very) flabby to fit.

Oh hi!

Here I am (again). Starting (again). Because, yanno, it's that time of year to take stock of things - and "things" are looking mighty flabby, lazy, tight, yuck.

This time last year I was in the midst of 12WBT fever - had lost 5 or 6 kgs (eep - I was 74.4kg on Boxing Day 2012!!!). This morning it's a very scary 82.1kg. Heaviest EVER.

Dec 2012

Dec 2013

Last Christmas, I got a bunch of running booty - Garmin, earphones, cap, 2XU running tights. This year, I got none of that and my tights don't actually fit at the moment.

Last New Year I made a goal to do a half marathon in 2013. At the moment, on the brink of 2014, that feels so ridiculously out of reach! I would be happy to run 5km. 

So (I feel like a broken record) - this is bad, and I have to do something. So I'll start again - nothing fancy - fast days, cut back on junk, get into a exercise routine. I'm starting with just walking the dog - my feet have been killing me (not plantar fasciitis this time, the outside edges of my feet), so if walking is not a goer, I'm going to get in the pool. Whatever - just start moving again.

I went for a 3km walk this morning. So many people out there doing the same thing and running (oh my gosh - I can't even). It's a start and I just need to keep going. If I learnt nothing from that Michelle chick, it's JFDI.

Life is busy, but it doesn't appear that's going to change any time soon. I did the 12WBT and 10km run and lost 10kg whilst being busy, but I didn't sustain it. So I need to find a way to keep healthy for the long haul. Baby steps. I just have to do it, or I'll be posting here that I'm 90kg and that would be scary.

How did you go this year?

Lost/gained weight?

Got yourself into a routine?

Any tips for the fallen?

The ecstasy and the agony...

The ecstasy:

I can see that I do pronate a fair bit and my Mizunos work hard!

But yay - no heel-striking!

A smile for the camera!

Nearly finished!

The agony:

Friggin' hell it was hot.

And really, really hard work.

And since that day, I've not run at all. AND I've pulled a muscle in my groin and it really hurts (I did this trying to sit cross-legged on the ground - obviously I am too old for that now!).

I want to run but I don't want to exacerbate an injury. I need to get back into a routine (any exercise, I'm not fussy right now). I can see an eery sense of history repeating and I don't want that. What's Mish say? JFDI...

Too far...

Can I smash all of this open

Can I pass the hurt with a little pain

I wanna see all of it crumble

Start afresh and over again

Another "red flag" day on Friday - a work do at the local pizzeria. I skipped my snacks, ate clean and went and bought low-alcohol bubbles. And stuck (mostly) to the vegetarian pizzas (which were delish!).

And the biggest test of how far I've come of all - the dreaded muffin-top jeans. These are the "too tight" pair that give me indigestion. But not tonight! They are fitting much more comfortably (nicely, even) and maybe, just possibly, are a little loose around the legs!

Might need to clean the bathroom mirror...

And other little things are becoming noticeable - when I'm not sweaty, my watch is looser too:

Saturday morning - I had all the excuses under the sun not to do my long run:

• it was dark
• it was cold (southerly change blew up, bringing winter-like conditions)
• my running buddy couldn't make it
• I got my period the night before
• my blister was sore
• I had to be at work at 9am
• my hair was all lovely and straight from the hairdressers
• I didn't feel like it

All of these went through my head on Friday night and also Saturday morning when the alarm went off at 5:30am (noooo!).

But I Just Freaking Did It. I got up and ran. And it was about a billionty degrees cooler than last week and I ran the whole bloody 10km and then a little bit more (the hard bit around the golf course). I felt strong and for the first time, I felt that maybe, just maybe, this half marathon idea is not so crazy.

OK, so Usain Bolt has nothing to worry about
 and don't even talk to me about the pathetic amount of calories burnt!

I'm not totally sure of the distance there, because Garmin thinks I swam part of the way...

I'm scared of pushbikes to be contemplating a triathlon any time soon...

So here we sit on the threshold of Week 12 of the 12 Week Body Transformation. Will I have "transformed" my body? Not totally, but damn, I'm sure I've made a good start! 

Not sure I'll get to my little goal of being in the 60s by Wedneday's weigh in, so stay tuned for that and the "big reveal" of the before and after shots (eek!).

Where there is no one else

Where I'll be from under and can uncurl myself

Too many, too much, too hard

Help me, this time I went too far

10K Milestone!

So, long run on Sunday this week, as my running buddy Tracey had a Kick class on Friday, but didn't want to back up on Saturday. That was OK, because I had to work yesterday, but not today!

We had a big storm last night and I was hoping it wasn't bucketing down. It wasn't - it was just warm (23C) and HUMID. Yuck.

You can see the lights of the fishing boats at 6am!

We did 8.5km last week, so were keen to give it a nudge and go the 9, but the route we took pushed us over the 10km mark.

I felt fine until about the 6km mark, when things got a little harder. I paused then to slug some water (I was sweating like a PIGGY) and a little gel. I didn't think I would be able to run up my Heartbreak Hill the second time, but I did and kept going....until about the 9km mark when my body just gave up. I had a little walk break and then shuffled along. I'm not totally convinced I could call the last kilometre actually "running" but it was marginally faster than walking, so I'll take it!

The conditions were a bit tough - no cooling rain or breeze, so I just got slower and slower:

Don't count that last km - I'd stopped then!

No matter how slow I went, I didn't stop and we did it! Tracey ran the whole way - what a legend!

We stretched and drank gallons of water! Legs are tired now...but I can finally call myself a 10km runner!

Time to print out the shopping list and go shopping and get organised for the week ahead :-)

2012 - Adios!!

So the last day of the calendar year, whilst not actually different or significant in any way, is a nice point in time in which to look back at the good, bad and ugly in your life and provide a starting point to do things better. Except, I like to think of it as a continuation of the journey!

What have I learned in 2012?

That I don't ever want to feel the way I do about myself in this photo:

and that I don't want to go to my 30th school reunion looking like this:

I learned that if you eat crap and drink a lot of alcohol, you get fat. Simple as that.

Ever so close to 80kg - never want to see that number again!

Speaking of 80's, I learned that 80% of weight loss is diet. You can never outrun a crappy diet. But I like the running part.

I learned that consistency is key. I am human - I get sick, sometimes life gets in the way. But every day is an opportunity to pick yourself up and keep making good choices.

I learned that waiting for "motivation" to come along is a fallacy. Most of the time, I'm not going to feel like going for a run or chopping up veggies. JFDI!

And so for the last day of 2012, I JFDI, went for my tempo run. Crappy place to run, yes?

Max was keen, as always:

I had my knees on show for the first time in forever, in my new 2XU compression shorts:

I thought I had set my app to tell me only the time and also a tempo of 7:30min/km. It told me nothing, so I just ran to the end of the path and back. This is what I managed:

Very happy to have achieved 7:32min/km average and quite excited by that 6:50min/km for the 3rd kilometre! I wonder what I can achieve in the fitness test in a couple of weeks?

I'm also very happy to end the year lighter than I have been at any time during it. I won't start 2013 with a resolution to "lose weight" because I'm already doing it! But I will keep on putting one foot in front of the other :-)

Happy New Year!

Feelin' hot hot hot!

Ole ole, ole ole

Feelin' hot hot hot!

Here in Oz (for my vast overseas readership!) it's been, as we say in the local dialect, bloody hot. And not just hot temperature-wise, but about a billion percent humidity. But do I let that stop me in my quest for a leaner, fitter, healthier me? No! I don't!

Sunday night, much cooler now, the end of Week 2 of the 12 Week Body Transformation. And I know you are all sitting there, on the edge of your seats, most probably the couch, just busting to find out how I'm going.

Well, I'll tell you! (because I'm good at sharing like that). I'm going really well. I have followed the menus pretty well - adding my calories to My Fitness Pal every day and (just about) not going over my allocated 1200 calories per day.

I am enjoying healthy, yummy, clean food every day:

Kanga meat pie!

Pancakes with yoghurt and berries!

Poached egg, ham, grilled tomatoes and rocket!

I am becoming much more aware of what I put in my mouth and how it is going to impact on my quest to lose weight.

I am dealing with "special occasions" better - work Christmas party becomes "treat night" and I save up calories in the day by not snacking and making better choices.

I am saying "no thankyou" to wine!! I know - I'm pretty shocked too. It's like Michelle says (wow, I really am sounding like a cult member, but so be it) "willpower is a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it gets". I am able to include a glass (or two) of low alcohol wine into my daily calorie allowance on treat nights if I'm careful during the day. 

And I've followed my own (well, Michelle's again) very good advice and JFDI, despite the heat, in my training. Have not missed a day this week. Say it again, loud and proud - have not missed a day, people! Despite the heat and humidity which makes me look like a drowned rat, I've been pounding the pavement, planking the carpet and pulling-up the towels like there's no tomorrow! And I look like this when I'm done:

I love it when my face matches my top!
You can't see it well, but I was drenched!

I am a bit cross that my efforts do not ever burn the required 500 calories on weekdays and 1000 on Super Saturdays, but alas, despite running for nearly 5km in the heat I was only up to 500 calories! What is a girl to do? I'll just keep going and following the instructions and gradually building up my running - I DO NOT want to get injured again.

I'm also getting brave. This wonderful resource has been available to me for the whole time I've been writing this blog, but I've always been too chicken/self-conscious to use it:

Outdoor gym!

So I did a circuit of that based on my all-over body toning exercises after my long run. Max the dog kept me company and did not laugh at me, at all. 

I'm going well. I'm feeling so much better. A little tired from my early starts, but a 'good' tired from physical exertion. My mum reckons I look a little thinner - I love my mum! Still waiting for my clothes to start falling off me, but it will come. Yes it will.

So we go rum bum bum bum

Yeah we 'run run run run!'

Just Freakin' Do It!!

I have to be honest with you - this exercising thing 6 days a week is hard.

Every morning I wake up and start to think things through - I had a bad night's sleep, I have my period, I could do my workout after work, it looks like it might rain. Any excuse will do!

But the one fabulous thing I have got out of this 12WBT is Just. Freakin' (or substitute your F-word of choice). Do. It.

Don't think. Just do. Don't justify, excuse, plan, imagine, whinge or wait to feel "motivated". Just do it. Hey - those Nike people really know what they were on about!

Just got up this morning after a shocking night's sleep/awake and wanted a sleep-in. But instead I JFDI. Sweated buckets in this humidity, burnt 300 calories and got my legs, arms and abs all set for another round of DOMS.

Just Freakin' Do It. JFDI. Love it.