And one more try for the dummies!

I turn 45 today.

I'm now 86.5kg.

I'm struggling to tie up my shoes.

It's time!

For realz and for good.

Let's do this!

Trying AGAIN!

Hello all my lonely readers! You can take my silence here and on Facebook as confirmation that I have, indeed fallen off the 12WBT bandwagon (again).

My life has been very stressful of late, and although I know that following Mish's advice and guidelines will help me lose weight, look better, feel better and be healthier, it was just the straw that broke the camel's back and I couldn't deal with "being good" on top of everything else I've had to do.

And so I've been paying Mish $20 a week (again) for nothing. Well not nothing, because I've saved her recipes and running plan to my computer this time.

As you would expect, living a lifestyle of crap food and plenty of wine and little (no?) exercise does not lead to good things on the scales. I'm back to 78.9kg as of yesterday. Sigh. I'm on the yo-yo.

So, Weight Watchers, joined gyms, bootcamp, Couch to 5km, Run Fat Bitch Run, juicing, Weigh It Up, 12 Week Body Transformation - I've done them all - lost kilos, run further than I ever imagined, gained kilos...

However, a friend posted something earlier this week that piqued my interest - the Fast Diet (or 5:2 Intermittent Fasting) as "discovered" by Michael Mosely (love his science docos!) on the Horizon documentary Eat, Fast, Live Longer. Go watch it. In his case (and mine!) that all the standard advice is not working.

The idea is that you fast on two (non-consecutive) days a week - where you only eat 500 calories (or 600 for men) on those days. Eat what you want on the other days. Sounds doable! Fasting made easy! And with some good science to back it up. I went and bought the book.

So yesterday, I fasted for the first time. I was HUNGRY in between breakfast (cottage cheese and apple) and dinner (pork yakitori, pumpkin, feta and beans). But I didn't cave - because today I am enjoying my standard fare of raisin toast and chai latte. I really had to stop myself reaching out and just mindlessly eating. It took some thinking, but I did it! And I am so mentally relieved that I don't have to watch what I eat every day - just two days a week.

Just for fun, I took all my starting measurements yesterday - and today, 24 hours later, I am 1.5kg lighter. 1.5 KILOGRAMS! I expect much of it is water, but wow. On Thursday, I'll do it again and then go back to normal.

It is obviously early days and my long-term track record is not great. And as always, I'll blog about it - good, bad and ugly. Because I know I'm not alone here. Keep following me on my journey!

Holiday health kick???

Regular readers will know I'M GOING ON HOLIDAYS!!!!

Yup. Just 3 more sleeps in my own bed before I board this:

Read it and weep, people!

So. I will be away on a floating smorgasbord for over 3 weeks, followed by a stay in Beijing (a.k.a. home of Peking Duck). How do I reconcile holidays with weight loss/maintenance??

First up, I give up any notion of losing weight. While I don't want to undo all my hard work, I will give myself a break. If I can come home within cooee of 70kg, I'll be a happy girl.

I will use the gym on this floating palace. It looks nice:

There is also a lap pool:

and a jogging track:

I will be restrained at the buffet:

So I can enjoy my Peking Duck in Beijing and Yum Cha in Hong Kong:

But I might climb a lot of stairs:

Wish me luck for 4 weeks without scales!!!!

What are your holiday weight "maintenance" tips?

What's the best holiday you've ever been on?

Meh. Wednesday Weigh In.

Well, I had a sneaking suspicion my week of dodgy eating and lack of exercise might catch up with me:

70.7kg - 1.1kg gain 

It was a bit bloody depressing to have to record a 1.1kg GAIN for Week 1 of Round 1 of 12WBT. 

Not freaking happy Jan.

How damn easy was it to gain that 1.1kg? No effort at all - and just goes to show how at "my age", the body is designed to hang onto those extra calories like it's life depended on them! What it thinks it needs them for is beyond me.

But I will be consistent! I'm back on track with diet. Apart from a case of DOMS, I'm back on track with exercise.

Well, I actually find that rather depressing....

That's a bit more like it!

I have my 10K fun run on Saturday - I'm excited and nervous at the same time!

I have tentatively started the half-marathon program for Round 1, but my hip/glute is starting to play up again, so after Saturday, I think I will have to back off the running a bit, focus on the stretching, massage and strengthening and rotate my cardio around a bit. Maybe I might try the Intermediate program until we go on holidays. I definitely don't want the big injury thing raising it's ugly head too - now that would be depressing.

Onwards and downwards!!

What a difference a year (or 12 weeks) makes!

It's getting to the pointy end of the 12 Week Body Transformation now. We have started Week 11 - just two more weeks to go, and I have to say, I'm getting a tiny bit excited about taking my "after" photo and comparing it with "before" (which I hated taking and bravely shared with you). I reckon I will look a bit different.

But after checking out Finding Carol, and how much just her face had changed in 12 months and 3 Rounds of 12WBT, I was curious. You are too, aren't you?

January 2012

January 2013

That photo yesterday, even though I was a beetroot, was the first photo in quite a while that I actually liked the way I looked. 

And now, comparing it this time last year (even though they are not from the same angle), I'm really happy with my progress! I have more work to do and this "lifestyle" has to be a permanent thing, even when I reach my goal weight (and I will!), but when you see evidence like this, it makes it worth it and you realise just how far you've come.

Stay tuned kiddies, more over-sharing to come!!