DAY 9

Let's not talk about this mornings weigh in shall we....there's good reason that "they" all say not to weigh everyday and this morning was it. Back up to 103.5 sigh....

So onward and upward.... or downward as far as the scales go.... he he.... that even made me laugh. Oh that reminds me I told Vicki about the weigh in dilemma and she kind of looked at me and without saying anything said "well what did you expect" She then actually said that all women do it (weigh everyday) and those that say they don't are lying and will lie about other things too. I decided to add that they are also not real blondes either! Never mind...I actually thought it was clever.

Which brings me to, apart from having a bitch of a day trying to sort out daycare for my baby....(long story am totally over it) I had my first real workout with Vicki. FINALLY!! It felt so good, I've still got it apparently. I did 2km at a fairly leisurely pace on the exercise bike, then chest press, lat pull downs, and thigh extensions plus an ab exercise with the usual static core type floor exercises and stretches for the cool down.

One of the best things about training with Vicki is that she makes it so much fun, or like tonight lets me vent and rave on about crap in my life, that I don't even think about how many reps I'm doing or how heavy the weight is that I'm pulling or pushing. But she watches every rep like a hawk and knows exactly how many I've got left in me so that I get the ultimate best out of every set. All these routines that tell you to do 3 sets of 15 reps or whatever can be a waste of time if you have the ability to do one or two extra in the 3rd set, or worse make you feel inadequate if you can't complete the correct number. If you do a couple of perfect form reps in a set where you've completed more but average reps before, even the best weightlifters are going to find that set tougher. Does that make any sense? At least I know what I'm talking about.

Tonight I have that very familiar feeling of slightly shaky arms, I can feel the warmth of blood through my muscles which I can only describe as a comforting feeling ha ha that would sound weird to non weight trainers but very familiar to other weighties.

Why oh why have I waited so long to get back in the gym and why oh why have my weights all sitting stagnant getting dusty and rusty all lonely by themselves all chucked in the corner of my sunroom for so long????

Today's diet
Well, this morning is a bit of a blur for some reason, I couldn't remember what flavour shake I had, and I couldn't remember if I'd taken my Hydroxycut, when Vicki asked me (shame on me), and I ain't gunna go through the bin to see the used sachet either.

Lunch was Mediterranean Tomato or was it Cream of Chicken soup? ;-)
I do remember I had two slices of Swiss cheese wrapped around two spicy chicken tenderloins leftover from Sunday night. I was cranky and hungry. Oh and don't tell Vicki, but I had 4 cookies don't laugh but they're Paradise brand low fat for arvo tea with my cuppa plus some almonds. James bought the cookies for himself and thought that at least he'd try to do the right thing and get low fat ones.

Tonight's dinner was from the TF cookbook and was scrummo! Rosemary Lamb Backstraps baked with ratatouille - tin of crushed tomatoes, eggpplant, zucchini, onion, garlic, red capsicum. All pretty low fat and low carb. Good winter fare.

DAY 7 & DAY 8

I didn't post yesterday as I was in, well let's just say a mood. Nothing that not being married wouldn't fix ;-)

But anyway...yesterday I weighed in at 103kg a loss of another half a kilo total of 3.2 awesome. It's all been relatively easy so far.

This morning's weigh in was a little strange, I got vastly varying readings 103.1, 102.7 and 102.8 in hindsight I should have taken a 4th, lets just say I'm under 103 and somewhere in the high 102's.

I went to mother's group this morning which is always let's say "entertaining". It was at Rachael's house which is always very comfortable. I managed to slip on one of the baby rugs on the floor with a coffee in hand and landed on the barrier surrounding the combustion heater. This reminds me that my brain is ahead of my sluggish body and I still move like an elephant or with all the grace of an Aardvark!! Just a few bruises and especially to my ego! I always fear I'm going to fall over with the baby in hand, but I suppose I would move that much more carefully when carrying him.

So, food today

Breakfast
Shake, Strawberries & Cream Flavour
Multi V
Hydroxycut (I've been forgetting to take these

Mid Morn
Definitely not on the TF menu - Rachaels banana cake

Lunch
TF Soup - Mediterranean Tomato
a few almonds

Arvo
2 Slices cheese (umah)

Dinner
Baked Veal Roast
Baked carrot & zucchini
steamed broccoli

DAY 6

This is going really well!!! 103.5!! I knew it would be good news. Total 2.7kg

My size 22 jeans are way too big they were always a bit loose but they are now falling down!!

I'm not eating enough of the allowable extras that I'm supposed to through the day and I do get hungry at times. I'll have to make sure I fix that.

Breakfast
Shake (chocolate)
Multi V

Skim milk hot chocolate at Gloria Jeans

Lunch
Soup (cream of chicken)
Slice of low fat cheese

Pre-Dinner snack
Celery

Dinner
This was awesome! I made Shepherds Pie using turkey mince instead of beef, love turkey mince I use it for everything that requires mince, and topped it with cauliflower notatoes. Yummo!

I went to the chiro this morning and got straightened out a bit. I have to go again on Wednesday as I have a problem with my left arm coming from my shoulder where the tension in my muscles is pressing on some nerves and it's affecting my digital strength - like gripping and pinching things, I notice it when I squeeze pegs, or grip a pen to write, even typing feels a bit weird.

I also had a pedicure in one of those nail places. I tried a new place which I'm liking better than my usual place, pedicures became a regular for me while I was pregnant for obvious reasons. Now I still have them done. A nice little treat every 3 weeks.

When I was losing weight before, everytime I lost 5 kilos, I used to buy myself a piece of jewellery with a star pendant or something starry about it. I use stars as "my symbol" rather than a crucifix or cross.

I think I might start doing that again. Or maybe I'll do a facial or some such thing. However I would like to have something to show for it.

DAY 5 -

104.1!!!!YAHOO can you believe it! That's a total loss of 2.1kilos in 5 days!!!

I'm on a roll now.


On Wed night I decided that the frozen schnitzel and pies we were eating for dinner were just wasting all my hard work through the day, so I scoured the TF cookbook I bought and chose about 5 meals to cook over the next 5 days. Very simple when you dissect them. The main thing I noticed with these meals is the extensive use of herbs and spices. This obviously changes the taste of your average piece of meat. The other reminder is portion sizes every meal has the amount of grams per protein serve you should consume whether male or female.


So it was off to the supermarket yesterday which was made so much easier because my baby boy can now confidently sit up in the shopping trolley seat! I bought a special seat cover cushiony thing to make him safe and comfortable. He loved it! He's such a laid back little guy, I'm sure some babies would freak being put in a shopping trolley for the first time. He thought he was the ants pants.


I had most of the dried herbs & spices, I just had to get some cayenne pepper, but forgot to take my list with my and decided to buy my third jar of paprika instead!! Doh! Don't trust your memory once you have a baby....


One of the most interesting parts of the TF meals is that instead of potatoes they use cauliflower!! called notatoes. You cook it and mash it just like potato, with light cream cheese and a little garlic & salt and put it on top of shepherds pie and such.


Last night I wanted to try a recipe of Vicki's website. Crustless Quiche. It was awesome!!! Very easy to make, and James absolutely loved it. Here's the link to the receipe.

http://www.fitnessforfemales.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=53


The only things I did differently were 4 whole eggs instead of whites and added capsicum. It was great. The two things not really allowed on the TF program is the flour and breadcrumbs, but I figured 1/4 cup flour wont hurt too much in the long run and next time instead of breadcrumbs I can use their Simply Fibre as they suggest in one of their recipes for schnitzel instead of crumbs.

Back to the supermarket today for fresh herbs and more vege's. Tonight I cooked lean cut rump steaks, with red onion, tomato, parsley and basil salsa sort of thing, and notatoes (instead of mashed potato) and asparagus.

Shake for breakfast
Soup for lunch, and a little bit of left overs from last nights dinner

Can't wait to get on the scales tomorrow!

DAY 4

104.9KG AND COUNTING!! - A total loss of 1.3kg

Anyone who says these meal replacement diets don't work or are no good need to be shaken! Obviously it's not ideal and doesn't work for everyone but for those like me that are all or nothing types then it's definitely the way to go.


I was reading the TF magazine last night and on the cover was a girl (lady) that lost a staggering 101kg - holy heck that's almost all of me now! Just imagine how amazing she must feel! I haven't weighed him recently but I reckon my baby must weigh about 10kg. I can hardly manage to hold him for more than a few minutes yet I'm carrying three of him around with me all day everyday. No wonder my body hurts all the time.

DAY 3

This morning I weighed in at 105.1kg that's a total loss of 1.1kg!

Happy Dance!!!!

I visited my friend Rachael this morning and I always feel obliged to take "a little something" when I visit people. Just the way I am. So it was to Bakers Delight we went I bought 4 x choc coconut scones just to see what they were like and whilst they filled the spot over coffee, I have satisfied myself that they weren't worth the money or the calories! Their savoury pull aparts however....yummmmmm. Maybe next time I'll take her an apple or a carrot lol!!

Rachael is out to lose a bit of weight too, she's only got about 5kg to lose and was very excited to report that she's lost a kilo in the last week. Great going Rach, keep up the good work. She's getting married to her long time partner soon and she showed me the dress she bought today, really lovely and it will suit her beautifully, it's an ivory two piece with a simple straight skirt and a boned bodice that laces up at the back. Very elegant. Rach is doing the sensible diet thing and watching what she eats and recognising her portion sizes. Ya see that doesn't work for me. I have to cut right back and then reintroduce foods as I go.

I'm under no delusions that the weight I'm losing now is just fluid, but if it's there it's there to be lost. Anything that makes me feel better and keeps me going has to be good right?!

DAY2 + More stats

This morning I weighed in at 105.7kg that's a loss of 500gms! Half a kilo!

I know what you're saying yeah but what will it be tonight or tomorrow. I need the motivation of seeing those scales move everyday. Even if they move up I need to be informed. I'm like that with everything. I don't want any surprises at the end of the week.

I also measured myself today for two reasons. One obviously as stats to keep a track of cm's lost and also to order some new workout pants from the very lovely Kate McKraken's website. Her exercise gear is unreal and is basically made to order. She also has sizes up to 26 which is pretty much unheard of! You can choose colour, leg length - which is very important for me being 6ft tall with an inleg of 34" you can also choose your "rise" from crutch to waist. I hate low riders, just wasn't built for them so I choose a high rise plus there is a fold down waist band on her pants which can be adjusted to suit.

http://www.kurvaceous.com/index.php?cPath=1

Bust: 115cm
Waist: 96cm
Hips (or the widest part): 133cm
Thigh: 73cm
Arm:

I'll re-take these every three months.

Today I had:-

Too many cups of tea

Breakfast
Tony Ferguson Shake - I've decided that the QuickLoss meal replacement shake just doesn't cut it. TF Shakes are more filling and they have such a vast array of flavours that it's fun to look forward to want you get. I wrote above that I don't like surprises and now I'm going to contradict that by saying that I keep all the shakes in a bag and make it like a lucky dip to see what flavour I get. Plus I can have their soups for lunch.

Mid Morn
Berry Splash drink
Multi V
2 x Hydroxycut

Lunch
TF Soup Creamy Field Mushroom

Arvo Tea
Cuppa Tea
4 family assorted cream biscuits (whoops - I had the poohs because I was hungry and haven't yet organised good snacks - self sabotage at it's best)

Dinner will be (here we go again)
Chicken Schnitzel
Oven Baked Chips
and some sort of green vegetable

At TF today I also bought one of their cookbooks. This has relatively easy low GI dinners.

James said he weighed himself today as well and at 95kg (173cm tall) was shocked. He says he's not getting any younger and seeing as his dad died too early in his life of a heart attack and his mum has type 2 diabetes he had better start doing something now as he wants to be fit and healthy for our son.

So we've agreed that once we've eaten the not so good food in the freezer that he bought the other day, we'll start doing dinner the way we used to when I was training before. All sounds good.

Today's Diet etc

Not too bad considering I feel like crap 'cause I've now caught the viral cold that James was dying from (lol) and poor angel baby Rex has been coping with as best he can. He's such a little trooper.

Pre-Breakfast
3 Cups of tea (not real good)

Breakfast
Quick Loss Shake with water (would taste better with milk, but then wouldn't everything)
Multi V tablet

Morning Tea
Garden Greens Berry Splash - Drink (quite tasty, obviously berry with an undertone of dirt lol)

Lunch
Quick Loss Drink with water

Arvo
Tea and 2 x biscuits - I actually forgot I was dieting would you believe...no...oh well ;-)

Dinner
This is wear it all goes wrong - James is cooking most nights. He decided to buy a rack of lamb yesterday so he put it on to bake at 6.30pm (sigh) along with potatoes and sweet potato. I was starving so to eat in the meantime he made a mushroom and ham pizza. So all in all not so good. Will definitely need to get more organised for dinners and if James is to continue cooking I'll need to re-train him. He needs to lose about 10kg himself so it will be good for the both of us. We know what to do we just have to try harder, and since the baby came along we've been going the simple solution easy to prepare way, like shove a frozen pie & chips in the oven. Mind you shoving a chicken breast in the oven to bake can't be that much harder can it?!

In between all meals I had too many cups of tea, probably totalled 8 for the day. This has become my coping mechanism for being bored and confused being at home with the baby.

I had to cancel training with Vicki as even though I still felt like training with her, I didn't want to spread my germs. The last thing she needs is a cold. She suggested I exercise myself on my x-trainer, which is called Morris (will explain in another post) and do some fit ball work. Well Morris is covered in dust and surrounded by crap and my fit ball is shoved under the house somewhere. I need James help to recover both and by the time he got home it was dark and raining and well that was that....

Will do better tomorrow, oh and I weigh myself everyday contrary to what "they" all say you should.

Pics April 2007 - Living In The Past?

These are some fun pics of me with some pro body builders at the Fitness and Leisure Expo in 2007. I had an absolute ball this day. I met one of my idols the very beautiful, on stage and off Suzy Blanch and ended up training with her in Wollongong 3 months later. Suzy was a ANBA (Australian Natural Body Building Assoc) Figure Competitor now IFBB (International Federation of Body Builders) competitor.

The big boys are American Pro BB Dennis James and Aussie Pro Luke Woods, contrary to the way they look they are very sweet and would you believe especially in Dennis' case shy boys. It felt very special to meet these guys and have a chat. My darling friend and coach Vicki gave me a pass to wear and enter as an industry member, she was working at the Nutrition Systems stand who sponsored the boys to appear.

I learnt several things on this day.

1. If you walk tall and act with an air of confident but friendly assertiveness, people will treat you the same way.

2. If you are going to stand next to and have your photo taken a very fit and beautiful 5ft 3inch figure competitor, you should not wear light colours, and perhaps stand down hill or in a ditch

3. Don't try and pose next to pro male body builders unless you are really built yourself (you will look like a goof).

4. I had to get my hair straitened and would never ever wear it curly again.

Me and the very lovely Suzy Blanch

Me and Suzy again - Oh why do I bother posing???!!!

Blurry pics of Me and Dennis "The Menace" James

Dennis James

Blurry pic of Me and Luke Woods

These pics aren't a very good quality as they've been re sized and re-produced several times.

It may sound like I'm living in the past and trying to recapture the way it was. The way I see it is I'm trying to remember how good I felt back then so I can look forward to feeling that way again. And whilst I know I will never achieve things to the likes of any competitive body builder, I can train and diet the way they do and strive to be the best me I can be.

Weigh In, Stats, Goals, Habits

I weighed myself this morning. I had done it a couple of months ago at Vicki's but for some reason didn't believe the result!!........

It was EXACTLY the same as when I started to lose weight before my wedding in 2006! 106.5kg. My first goal back then was to lose as much weight as I could between starting with Vicki in June 2006 to our wedding 30th September 2006. I had heard that the body has a memory but that is ridiculous!

I always weigh myself 3 times at weigh in time ;-) Sound familiar to anyone? ;-) I have digital scales and it weighs to the 100gm, it tends to differ occasionally and we all know how every gram counts so I take an average out of the 3. This morning I had 106.3, 106.1, 106.2 so with an average of 106.2kg I have a very similar journey this time as I did in 2006.

I want to lose as much weight as I can between now and starting back at work on Monday 25th August. That is in 12 weeks (holy heck), we've all heard that losing 1kg a week is a safe and achievable goal. But I want to do more, don't we all. I remember how hard I worked to achieve 17kg in 13 weeks before when I only had myself to concentrate on, now I've got the baby to look after...or am I just making excuses....we'll see...baby steps.

There's a few habits I have to change. I've taken to drinking about 4 cups of tea when I get up. I don't drink coffee. This is before breakfast. I've also taken to not having breakfast until the baby goes down for his first nap which is about 2 hours after we get up. I need to have maybe 1 cuppa and then my meal replacement shake. I wouldn't mind betting that I got sick the other morning because I had all that tea, then my multiv, it could have been a very acidic start to the day. Then with the shake on top there was probably a little cesspool brewing in there.

The other habit is not 1 but 3 biscuits with my other cuppas throughout the day, and I reckon all in all I have at least another 4 cups. Too much caffeine if I'm going to be taking Hydroxycut as well, and probably too much milk even though it's skim.

So as far as goals go, and we must have goals, otherwise what have we got to work towards:

Goal No.1 - lose as much as I can before returning to work Monday 24th August - 12 weeks (a nice rounded amount of time). This may sound like a loose ended goal, but it's a starting point. It wont be until I get started properly and see how my body is responding that I'll be able to put a firm number on it

Goal No.2 - To reach 80kg

Goal No.3 - To reach 75kg

I'll be able to put time frames on these other goals as time goes on.

75kg is a big goal and a significant amount of weight to lose. 31.2kg.

Oh by the way (or weigh lol) these numbers may still sound pretty high, that's because I'm 180cm or 6ft tall. Yes a woman of Amazon proportions! Big boobs, big muscles (big ego you might say) and all!

I'll get to 80 and then re-assess. That's another thing you have to do, re-assess your goals. There's no use trying to achieve something that is just unachievable.

Last time I was within 2kg of my ultimate goal of 75kg and I pulled the plug. I think I put too much pressure on myself back then to look like a figure competitor. Let's face it there is no way I would be able to lose that amount of body fat and not go insane at the same time. I also HATE cardio which is the primary way to lose body fat. I started to compare myself to other girls that were looking to compete. The main difference between me and them...They were already athletes in some way, I'm in no way sports orientated, they were all skinny and were just trying to build defining muscle and lose between 1 and 5 kg. I have no problem building muscle or lifting weights, I'm a naturally strong girl. It's the body fat that I have to contend with.

Below are some comparison pics of me in 2006 when I first started training at 106.5kg. I still to this day feel sick when I see those first pics on the left. I was so bloated from a massive high carb diet and drinking way too much alcohol (alcohol is a story in itself). The ones next to that on the right are 13 weeks later and 17.5 kilos lighter at 89.kg. I got married at 84kilos.

The last pic is me at around 77-80kg (I think).

Front on Comparison pic 1. 27/6/2006 @ 106.5kg - 15/9/2006 @ 89kg

Side on Comparison pic 2.

Bicep Strong Pose Comparison Pic 3.

Around June 2007 at approx 80kg I think