Wednesday 27 March 2013

Feeling Nostalgic...

Tomorrow we have to hand in an assignment at uni... it is a photo story - of ourselves and needs to contain at least 6 images of ourselves to send to prospective employers (schools).  OK so don't get me started on my beliefs about the un-professionalism of this task... we will be her all day, however it is a graded assignment so I started to look through pictures today.

I realised that I have may have a slight problem completing this assignment as I don't look like the same person anymore...

As I was looking through the images I thought... what would I like to show a school? 'I know - me in the P&F committee!'. (That's me in the centre)

 BLERK!!! TOO FAT CANT USE THAT~!!




I know what about me looking pretty at my wedding...


 OMG WHO IS THAT WHALE?


Quickly has 8 year old take a picture (as he utters - finally I get to take a picture of you when you aren't just wearing your undies!)


OMG WHO IS THAT SKINNY PERSON!!  IT'S ME!!! I am totally using this pic! - now madly running around trying on different clothes to get pics taken!!  I had to  check with my husband to make sure I actually do look like this in real life!!!  HAHAHA - I love my life - broken finger and all!

Sunday 24 March 2013

Sidelined by a finger...

There is a perfectly good explanation as to why I haven't kept you up-to-date with my goings on... I swear!!

Ok, so I have no excuse for last week, other than I have a 600gm gain and I was more than a little apprehensive about telling you all...

I know why - I have no excuses - I am owning - and although I was disappointed in myself I didn't get down about it and go on a food binge.. Even if I did want to!

I had too many chai lattes (skinny) but still - these are my weakness at uni and I have 2 study partners with who we take turns in buying them for each other... so I would end up with 2-3 lattes a day... plus I only exercised 2 days that week...

So I started Thursday with renewed determination... And I exercised everyday (taking Tuesday off) and then last Friday it all went a little pear shaped... or more massive purple sausage shape...

At PE class I was playing basketball and... I dislocated my finger... my right index finger (and I am right handed)!!  It was VERY painful - I had sharp pains in my finger and after icing it I taped it and realised nothing can be done about a dislocated finger (if its was back in place)  so I came home...

Wow was my finger aching... I had to take pain killers to get to sleep... So Saturday morning I decided I needed to make sure it was ok and took myself off to Gawler Emergency department... Where I was immediately taken in for X-rays...

Yup true to form (and as my luck would have it) It was broken!!  But not just broken, I have something called tendon avulsion (well that's what I think the Doctor called it)Where the tendon has snapped... and now I need surgery - BY THE END OF THE WEEK!!!

I asked about exercise and the Dr suggested that I dont do anything till I can speak to the orthopaedic surgeon...  Apparently orthopaedic surgeons dont work weekends... so I will be calling up at 9am to find out what I can and cant do... All though to be honest, I haven't wanted to do anything anyway... except eat chocolate - I have been wanting to do that.  But I will be strong and I will do what I have said to heaps of people on the Face book page - just stick to the diet until you can get back into it...

So I have busted out My fitness pal..again... and I am sticking to my 1200 cals (not 1300 any more) as I am not exercising I figure 1200 should be enough...

Any way typing has been very hard... this post has taken me over 40 minutes to type... and I shudder to think how long it is going to take me to write a 2000 word essay I have due this week...



Thursday 14 March 2013

So close to my goals..

This week was HUGE - Not only have I been so flat out I feel like I am barely treading water but I have been kicking some serious arse too!!

I lost 2.1kgs this week!!! OMG RIGHT?  So what's differen?? I increased my calorie in take from 1200 to 1300 and due to being incredibly flat out at uni I have managed to miss a few training days too... So less exercise and more food = more weight loss (So weird)  I am now 66.0kgs!!  1 kg to being in a healthy weight range for my height and only 0.1 away from having a healthy BMI!!

Who would have ever thought that I could do it - honestly, not me!  But here I am doing it... I really am, I really can! 

PLUS.....

On Public holiday Monday I got my butt out of bed at 6am and ran (without stopping) 9.15kms!  AND I did it at a 7:45min km pace! Admittedly, I was shaky legged and a wee bit light headed when I stopped moving but wow did I feel good to get that done on a 40 degree day! (that's why I was up so early) I only had to jump over 1 brown snake - thankfully it was dead... but even still spooked the begeezers out of me!

I really want to try for 10kms on Sunday - the weather will be cooler so hopefully the run will be easier too - but I just need to see how much sleep I get between now and then (only been getting 5-6 hrs a night with all the study) And truthfully I am completely knackered!

Now, I need to fill you in on a bit of a secret... I got hit on by a much younger guy!  STOP LAUGHING!! I really did!!

When I told him I was old enough to be his mother, he replied, 'No Mum I know has a body like that.' (I am totally blushing as I write this too)  Ok, so I was very flattered, more than a little flustered - it's been so long since a guy has been so openly checking me out I wasn't sure how to react... 

I lamely said, 'Sorry, but I am married' and pointed to my wedding rings OMG! - I totally forgot that I have had to move them on to my pointer finger because they no longer fit - and he said he didn't believe me!! Sooo terribly lame of me!!!  Anyway - Needless to say I was HUGELY embarrassed and left beet red!!

Well I must be off... I think I have about 400pages of academic text to read... I'm suddenly feeling very tired... again...

Saturday 9 March 2013

Getting Tarted Up - I Feel Like a Princess!

So, here I am all tarted up and ready for a softball presentation night...  Ok it's not a great picture but I am in a dress!  And other than that one time I got married...  This is the first time I have worn a dress in years... Ok I LOVE IT!!  I love the dress but I love the way I feel whilst wearing the dress, all girly and pretty...  and slim!!  I felt slim last night...  I cant remember ever having that feeling before...  I guess whan I was slim I didn't know any different but now I do, it feels amazing.  I felt like Cinderella must have done after years of wearing rags, (complete with the sore toes from walking in heels and everything.)

We had our big softball final yesterday, and we got thumped!  But at least the high point was the only time I got to bat I made it home ( I think I was the only one on the team to get home...) But although I was disappointed I think I was a little bit relieved as I have so much homework piling up its crazy...

Anyway here is our team photo from yesterday, I am at the back with the white cap on - excuse the sweat but this was taken after a 2 hour game in very humid 33 degree weather and 1009 calories burnt later...



Thursday 7 March 2013

7 minutes...

Ok, so I have been SWAMPED with uni work...  I am up at 6am and in bed at 11pm studying or doing family life stuff (shopping, groceries, washing etc etc...)  I feel as though I have no time left for exercise but I do!

I find myself with pockets of time here and there but I have no exercise gear... but hey if I use these little pockets to fit in some exercise it adds up over the day.  No it's not ideal but hey its better than nothing!

So what can you achieve in 7 minutes?

Lots and lots of push-ups... but if you aren't dressed for it you could try tricep dips, squat holds etc etc... HA!  Who can hold a squat for 7 minutes???

 ME!!

Today I held a squat for 7 minutes and I pulsed the last minute!!!  Here is a pic of me holding the squat!  Addmittedly it is a PB for me and it was during a bootcamp session I managed to fit in this morning...

But at least I have found a way to exercise... I will try and get my study friends to get pics of me doing sneaky exercise to post for you all to see how nuts I am!

An as a note to end on I wanted to let you all know that we finally got the results for my oldest sons treatment... and we got a tentative ALL CLEAR!!  We will know for certain in 4 months time but the specialist said, 'We couldn't want for better results at this stage.' 

SO YAY US!!!




Monday 4 March 2013

My letter to Michelle Bridges and her team

Hi guys,

I just wanted to share with you all the letter I sent to Michelle and her team... 

***

Hi Michelle and Team,

I wanted to write a letter to let you know about something major that has occurred in my life since starting the 12WBT.

First, however, I need to provide you with a little bit of background information so you can truly appreciate how marvellous and miraculous your program has been for me.

About 10 years ago my husband and I started 'trying to conceive'. All our friends fell pregnant quickly and we smiled for them but felt terrible that it wasn't happening for us. I gained weight.

I have had an irregular cycle most of my life making it hard to time the right time to try... Eventually I fell pregnant (about 3 years later) only to lose the baby at 12 weeks. My irregular cycle turned into no cycle at all and the only way we could conceive again would be to try IVF. I gained more weight.

We did 5 rounds of IVF, saw several specialist and spent over $20,000 only to fall pregnant once and then lose the child at 12 weeks again. I gained more weight.

I was emotionally, physically, and mentally drained and we decided that we would not try again but instead spend the IVF money on children that needed it - we fostered 2 wonderful children (that are still living with us now) and have fostered 11 other children over the years.

Last year we decided to give the IVF one more chance. And it worked first time, every time - all three times except that I lost the baby all three times at the 12 week mark. I had nothing left to give, we both made the incredibly painful decision to stop trying IVF. I went into a kind of mourning period, eating and depression set in and I gained even more weight. I maxed out at about 92kgs.

When I signed up for this program, if I want to be honest, I had no intention of following through with it. I just knew something had to change or my health issues were going to kill me. I was in bed every second day with debilitating migraines and I looked ill all the time.

I took the program one day at a time and one and a third rounds later I am 23kgs down and haven't had a migraine for that entire time. My mental health as well as my physical health astounds me, I get comments every day on how well I look and how healthy I am. Plus the most amazing thing has happened - for two months in a row I have got a period. Ten years, untold thousands of dollars and at least 10 doctors couldn't do for me what Michelle and her team have done for me in 16 weeks.

Who knows maybe a naturally conceived child is in my future, maybe not - either way I am happy, healthy, and fit, and there isn't enough money in the world to replace that!

So with my sincerest and most heart felt appreciate I want to thank you all for changing my life in more ways than you can ever know.

Sunday 3 March 2013

My Life: A Juggling Act. Scene 1

Have you ever seen those juggling street performers? Or sometimes on TV they may have a juggler who has 5 things in the up in the air, one of them is a sword, perhaps another is an egg, and you think to yourself there is no way that they can possibly fit anything else into the mix, then BOOM, the 'helpful' assistant throws a stick of dynamite in there...

Well that is my life at the moment... Except the sword is my children, the egg is my diet, then there are all the other parts I need to keep going...  Well, the BOOM would be my Masters degree...  I started back at uni last week and I dont think my feet have touched the ground since...

Intensive uni means instead of a 3-4 course per week full time load we do 5 courses per week and as we are Masters students we are expected to do at least 3 hours homework per contact hour at uni...


I have 11 contact hours, plus the 33 hours homework means I will be spending 44 hours on uni, which leaves precious little time for anything else...  I am tired just thinking about it! But it's only for 18 months!!! ONLY... ARGH!


Needless to say the first ball I dropped was the exercise ball...  I hadn't done any structured exercise until yesterday (I had 3 days off)   I was itching to get back into it but somehow I kept making and finding reasons not to...  Until yesterday!

I got up at 7am on a Sunday (that's my only sleep-in day) and I ran 7kms without stopping, sprinting the last 500 metres!  I felt great - it was great (a bit slow 57 mins) but I have decided I am going to get the distance first then work on my speed.. 

I had quite a bit of fuel left in the tank after my run too - so at some stage this week I am going to try for 10kms - I can't even imagine it!  Mind you I didn't think I would get to 7kms either!!  I am hoping for a bit of a reprieve from the SA heat though... for the past month or so it has been in, or around, the mid 30's  every day (with the exception of 2 days) and the forecast is for more of the same for the entire next week...  Which means I need to get my training in early - not easy with 2 kids who need to get up and ready for school but aren't old enough to do it without supervision...

I think I will have to be getting up earlier to get something done before Matt leaves for work, but I guess that depends on how much homework I can get done during the evening... and what time I get to bed... but although I think the exercise ball may drop more than the others I will make sure that the diet ball stays in the air...

It was suggested that I should up my calorie limit from 1200 to 1300 to see if that helps increase my weight loss... I tried it for 2 days and unfortunately it hasn't made any difference, but perhaps I need to go longer?  I am just worried that it will be counter productive and actually have a worsening effect (as in I gain or maintain my current weight)  I only have 2kgs to lose to get to a healthy BMI... That's scary! (Scary good)

I have attached a picture of me at the park on the weekend with my amazing 91 year old Nana, who still does Yoga!!  She occasionally teaches the class when the instructor goes away!





I wish I had more pictures of us together but I assume, like the rest of you, I never wanted to be in photos...