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

Post-Christmas post

Ahh. So this is Christmas!

That time of year filled with red flag days, food, wine, and stress. Not a great recipe for weight loss.

It has been interesting doing this 12WBT thing over the festive season. I wanted to keep my longer-term goals in mind, so I've been sticking to the program as much as possible.

I loved my long run (5.5km) on Saturday morning. Hubby came with me - it's been a while since he's run with me and I am just a little proud of my superior fitness (much less heavy breathing from me, especially uphill) and staying power (I got to run the last bit by myself).

I'm proud not because I want to be better than him, but because I have been working so hard on this and it is obviously paying off. Also really happy that the calories burnt (according to my HRM rather than the app) are over 500 for a run now and of my sub-8 minute pace!! Maybe speed and hill intervals really work!

I came home and spent the rest of the day in a house-cleaning frenzy! I reckon I burnt quite a few calories just doing mopping and tidying!

The last few days have been a bit off the rails. I bailed on my tempo run on Monday because I slept appallingly the night before and I had to start work early. My diet hasn't been bad as such, but just a bit all over the place.

Christmas Day! A lot of talk on the forums about following the recipes and Mish encouraging us to do a Christmas morning workout and post photos. Well, I don't have a photo because I didn't do my toning workout. My kids were up early wanting to open presents and I'm not going to put everyone on hold because I need to burn 300 calories. Them's my excuses, and I'm sticking to them. However, I did score a lot of good running loot (because I need more crap to run with!)

My menu consisted of half Mish recipes and half regular food. I made Curtis Stone cheese and proscuitto puffs (they were so yummy and turned out exceptionally well). Enjoyed prawn/avocado/tomato salad for entree. Made the spinach, cranberry and walnut salad and I tried to make her turkey recipe, but couldn't find turkey breast anywhere, so I just bought a pre-stuffed one and shoved that in the oven. We also enjoyed a beautiful blackberry and balsamic glazed ham. Also made the mini choc fudge cakes, but they were a bit heavy and stodgy. I totally enjoyed my couple of glasses of Grant Burge champagne - just divine!

Things went a little downhill after dessert. I was trying to enjoy a relaxing glass of white wine after all my hard work when I had a bad attack of indigestion. I just had to lie down and I felt disgusting. The guests left, afternoon turned to evening and as I lay on the couch, watching Harry Potter, I just felt worse and worse. I missed the end of the movie as I was busy throwing up.

I went to bed after that, but blissful slumber eluded me as I lay down with stomach cramps and body aches. I think it was after 2am when I finally nodded off. Today I feel as if a truck has run me over and my Boxing Day will be a very quiet one of blogging, TV, and a few cups of tea. Those hills can wait.

Given that no-one else appears to be sick, means I haven't poisoned my family - I actually think it may be my body rejecting crappy food and/or alcohol. This is the second time in a few weeks that I've suffered this and perhaps I just need to really eat and drink clean?!

Oh, so today is Wednesday, I hear you say? The scales told me 74.4kg (164.0 lbs) this morning. So a gain, but not unexpected and not too big. Looking forward to next week even more now!

We are halfway through our Round 4 of 12 Week Body Transformation - 6 more weeks to go. I'm going to give it a good nudge and see how what I can achieve.

How did you celebrate Christmas?

Were you "naughty" or "nice"?

Weekend wrap-up!!

OK! So it's Sunday night. And I just know that you are all sitting at home desperately waiting of news of my big Red Flag Day. So how did I get on???

Well, first up - let's remember Mish's words of wisdom: there is no "off the wagon" or "on the wagon". There's no "good" or "bad". This is not an either/or situation.

Bearing that in mind, I did pretty good!

My plan was to eat healthily and cut back on the wines consumed and I achieved that plan.

We did visit Maccy-Ds on the trip up for lunch, but I chose a Seared Chicken Wrap and water (363 calories). No fries!

At the party, I didn't pig out on chips, cheese and bickies, dip or bread in the afternoon. Instead, I placed myself away from all that food and just waited patiently until dinner. This is a biggie for me - I love myself some savoury nibbles! But I resisted temptation!

I had a chicken kebab and sausage and salad (not all clean and healthy, but not horrific either). I did not go back after dinner to the dessert table and consequently did not eat the banana cream pie or cheesecake. I think, given I did not prepare all my own food, I made pretty good food choices and flexed that willpower muscle with some mighty force.

My other downfall is usually alcohol, and I know I'm not alone here! I did reasonably well - drank gin and diet tonics, interspersed with mineral water and a few low-alcohol champagnes. This is over a period of between 3:30pm and 1am. I feel a bit dehydrated (and certainly tired) today, but this could have been a LOT worse. My calculations are a total of 470 calories on alcohol, which I'm pleasantly surprised about.

Blowing the budget on bubbles!

I estimate I ate/drank about 2000 calories - 800 over my daily limit. But I limited the damage and made some good choices, so all in all, I'm happy.

Back into it tonight with the Chicken Parmigiana we didn't have on Friday night (the week's all messed up, menu-wise) and then grocery shopping tomorrow as well as my tempo run.

How was your weekend?

Did you survive any social engagements without blowing your calorie budget?

What's your biggest weakness when eating out?

Red flag alert!!

You know, I did ponder the wisdom of joining up to 12WBT during the silly season. It's not like I have a lot of social engagements, but this time of the year seems to be a good excuse to let it all hang out.

But no! Not for us trying to lose weight!

So this weekend I am driving up to Sydney for a pre-Christmas catch-up. You know what that means. BBQ. Nibbles. Drinkies (or ten). So - a Red Flag Day. How to keep on track?

Well first up, I moved my long run to this morning (as I have to work early tomorrow as well). I might be able to fit in a little abs work on Saturday morning, but will struggle to fit in a 4.5km run. So I did that this morning:

I really, really did not feel like doing this this morning! If I was the 'old' me, I wouldn't have done it. But it had to be done and I just JFDI. Made sub 8:00 min/km pace, but was overtaken by every member of the local running club except 90 year old Ken. But I reckon I still have my L-plates on and about 20kg to lose, so things can only get better. I still ran faster than everyone still in bed!

My legs felt heavy towards the end, but I focussed on cadence, keeping "light" and relaxing my shoulders. And it's now all done.

Healthy breakfast:

And tomorrow? I'm on bringing nibblies and I'm going to cut up carrot, celery and capsicum and make some yummy vego dips. And bring chippies for the unhealthy ones (which is NOT me!). And I'll bring low-alcohol options (let's see how I like vodka, lime and sodas - they will fill me up much more than wine). I'll give it my best shot, and let you know how get on....